Look to move him in the off season cause moving him for cap reasons now could very well derail your team momentum.
Have you watched us play this season? Our momentum and winning is barely influenced by Monahan. If we added an RW scorer to play with Mang that will have a much bigger marginal benefit than a meh defensive C stuck in a defensive role because he's not good enough offensively to keep up with the big guns anymore.
I don't see how this helps Calgary other than Kessel's contract will be off the books this summer. But then, the same would happen to Monahan if he was traded for picks.
There really is no difference in scoring between the two this year (3 goals/6 assists vs 2 goals/7 assists). One is a declining 34 year old while the other still has a few good years left since he's only 27.
Nah... Monahan is a tradeable commodity this summer. Kessel isn't. I pass.
I mean Kessel is on the absolute worst offensive and overall team in years... So unfair to compare their scoring through 19 games this season. If we needed a C then I would agree it would be a lateral move, but
A) The contract factor is huge, we need the flexibility and find a team willing to take on Monahan at 6 mil and not send cap back or make us retain, and
B) We need an RW, Dube is just as good a C as Monahan and we legit have no RH RW's other than Pitlick and Lewis lolol
Earlier this year I felt that having RW sniper like Kessel would be ideal for Calgary. But with the performance to-date of Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane as RW's, I'm not so sure.
Our recently formed 3rd line of Dube/Monahan/Pitlick is coming along nicely in their role to play a tight checking, hard playing 3rd line.
Monahan's skating has improved as the season has progressed and showed more speed last night than we've seen in a while. His positional play was rock solid and he even threw some body checks for good measure. He has bought into this role and is more worried about someone scoring against his line than he is padding his own stats.
He has one talented winger (Dube) that is speedy, but is still trying to find his way. His other winger would have trouble scoring on an empty net. An upgrade there would be nice and the Flames do have talent knocking on the door in Stockton if need be. They also have the rugged Brett Ritchie (currently injured) that plays a hard forechecking game to open up room for his linemates.
Monahan has 9 points in 20, Kessel has 9 points in 19 (hope he fills the net tonight against Edmonton) so I don't see any chance of Calgary trading Monny for Kessel. His scoring will come and when it does Calgary will be even harder to play against than they are now.
Those that have followed Darryl Sutter during his coaching career know that he has some truisms that he is guided by.
1. Strength down the middle of the ice is needed to win (good centremen).
2. Have a core of 27-28 year olds to win (Monahan is 27. Gaudreau is 28. Lindholm turns 27 Dec. 2, Coleman just turned 29 in November).
Bottom line? For now Treliving will maintain the status quo. Whether he trades Monahan will depend on the size of some of the contract extensions for Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Mangiapane, and Kylington.
Why play Mang out of position at RW when we could just get a RW instead and play him in his natural position? Also, comparing their production through 19/20 games is absurd given the differences in teams/ scoring. Put Kessel on our PP and he would have like 5-10 more points. Look at his production last season as a better representation.
Also, Dube is literally just as good at C as Monahan. Both provide little 5v5 offense, Dube is way way faster and more dynamic. Why not get the better scorer that can line up across from Mang? Also every complaint you could make about Kessel (slow, defensively meh) all are the same for Monahan - difference is Kessel has better scoring upside and fills a positional need AND his contract fits our needs way better. And having a core of age 27/28 guys is way less important than filling out the positional needs of our roster. Strength down the middle for sure, but since Dube is already a similar of not better all-around C it doesn't matter.
From the outside looking in, I don't see the Flames trading Monahan cause they want to remain strong up the middle. It's a strength to their team and one of the reasons why they are #1 in team D in the entire NHL at the moment. Only team below 2 goals a game. It's not all Markstrom. If you take Monahan out, their could be ripple effects.
If the Flames want to add a top 6 winger or depth on D, they will do it through futures IMO. If there are cap space issues, they will target pending UFA's and ask for retention while they might try to unload a expiring contract of their own.
I can certainly see the Flames going on a run. Strong team D with great goaltending and a good counter attack is a good strategy. That's how the Habs went on their run last year. I would steer clear of trading Monahan for a winger at this stage.
Dube is ready to take 3C. We either keep Dube in a less effective role on the wing or put him or Money at 4C, which doesn't make sense. Also, Money is gone in the off-season anyway. May as well add an RW that can score to help Mang produce at 5v5 and let the Backlunds/Colemans/Dube's focus on the defensive responislibites instead of forcing Monahan into a defensive role (which he is ok with at best)
Yeah. The Flames have relies on depth. Monahan, even though he's in a reduced role, is still a legit mid six center. Having him on the team let's Sutter double shift Gaudreau.
Unless a physical 60+ point top six player is acquired at the deadline, keeping Monahan makes the Flames a better team.
So is Dube though. Dube is at least as good at Monahan at 3C, why not get a 2nd line RW (of which we have 0 unless we force someone out of place)
All good. Monahan has been outplayed by Lindholm since day one (which isn't a bad thing.. Lindholm is really, really good..) and Backlund has and always will be the more trusted 200 foot player at even strength. Monahan is kind of in limbo here in that 3C hole. He's doing exactly what is asked of him, but could definitely be better served elsewhere. He leads this team in PP points so his ability to produce is still there.
As for the OP. No chance. I want nothing to do with Kessel. I don't see a motivated athlete anymore - certainly not one that would flourish under Sutter at this stage of his career.
I guess that's fair then if you feel that way about Kessel, but not sure how that's fair given how bad his team is and that he woulda been on a 70 point pace in a similar situation last year.
