Todd Cordell: Calgary Flames need to focus on adding more speed, not size, this summer

Sounds like everyone agrees that Monahan needs to go. Got the size, lacking in speed and work.

Sounds like everyone agrees that Monahan needs to go. Got the size, lacking in speed and work.
- Hunkulese

Where do you read that?

I get your opinion of not liking Monahan for whatever reasons. To me he's still a 30 goal scorer but he needs to be split up from Gaudreau. See what happens.
I wonder if Leafs would entertain a Brodie for Kadri deal. Right now frssh off of blaming him for the loss, I think they would lol. His game is a lot different to Monahans & he might be a decent fit with Gaudreau & Lindholm. Shift Monahan down with Tkachuk & try Bennett on the RW. Backlund 3rd line & move Ryan on RW with him & Magpie on the left side.Either trade Janko or move him down to 4th line.

Frolik would have to be traded & not sure how this plays out with Neal.

Anyone paying attention also saw that Colorado completely eliminated the Flames speed through the neutral zone, and that their physical play along the boards and against the Flames stars impacted the entire series.

I'm all for adding speed, but if you don't have a guy in your lineup capable of creating space, you're in trouble as well. Johnson for one just missed on Johnny a couple of times and it definitely shook him up, and impacted how he entered the zone. Tkachuk was not a pain in the ass in front of the net like he usually is, and that I think had a lot to do with not wanting to take a penalty, but also because Zadorov stood him up on a few occasions and made it known that he wasn't welcome near the blue paint.

The Flames had guys who ran around a bit, but never made targets out of Colorado's impact players, made it easy to get to the front of the net and lost board battles left right and centre. We don't need a team of Prout's out there, but we do need to address size somewhere in the lineup.

Add all the speed in the world, but don't rely on hit stats to make the case that the Flames were a physical presence in that series.

Where do you read that?

I get your opinion of not liking Monahan for whatever reasons. To me he's still a 30 goal scorer but he needs to be split up from Gaudreau.
- Kevin R

Is he really though? How much of that is thanks to Gaudreau? Was Neal a 40 goal scorer without Crosby? Is Chiasson a 20 goal scorer without McDavid? Any decent centre they put with Gaudreau is going to get at least 20-25 goals. Backlund could, Lindholm could, Bennett could, even Jankowski could.

He can't keep up with Gaudreau and when he's not scoring he's pretty much invisible out there. What does he do to raise his linemates game?

He still has a lot of perceived value around the league. He's probably one of the top 5 overrated players out there. Now is the time they're going to get the most value out of a Monahan trade.

Look at his contemporaries. All the number one centres that came up the same time as Monahan. MacKinnon, Barkov, Scheifele. All three of them are true number one centres who are a force to play against and elevate the play of the linemates. Monahan is paid more than all three of them and no one outside Calgary thinks he's on their level.

Is he really though? How much of that is thanks to Gaudreau? Was Neal a 40 goal scorer without Crosby? Is Chiasson a 20 goal scorer without McDavid? Any decent centre they put with Gaudreau is going to get at least 20-25 goals. Backlund could, Lindholm could, Bennett could, even Jankowski could.

He can't keep up with Gaudreau and when he's not scoring he's pretty much invisible out there. What does he do to raise his linemates game?

He still has a lot of perceived value around the league. He's probably one of the top 5 overrated players out there. Now is the time they're going to get the most value out of a Monahan trade.

Look at his contemporaries. All the number one centres that came up the same time as Monahan. MacKinnon, Barkov, Scheifele. All three of them are true number one centres who are a force to play against and elevate the play of the linemates. Monahan is paid more than all three of them and no one outside Calgary thinks he's on their level.
- Hunkulese

Monahan did get 22 as a 19 year old rookie without Gaudreau. I would think he'd get close to 30 with a couple decent linemates.

Speed is great, and we have a lot of it.

What we do not have is a big player that can dominate a game, playoffs are made for guys like J Benn. like Iginla. Having a guy like that on the top line would open up a lot of space for JG. I know they are not easy to find but IMO we lack a mean SOB that can score and intimidate in the top 6.

Is he really though? How much of that is thanks to Gaudreau? Was Neal a 40 goal scorer without Crosby? Is Chiasson a 20 goal scorer without McDavid? Any decent centre they put with Gaudreau is going to get at least 20-25 goals. Backlund could, Lindholm could, Bennett could, even Jankowski could.

He can't keep up with Gaudreau and when he's not scoring he's pretty much invisible out there. What does he do to raise his linemates game?

He still has a lot of perceived value around the league. He's probably one of the top 5 overrated players out there. Now is the time they're going to get the most value out of a Monahan trade.

Look at his contemporaries. All the number one centres that came up the same time as Monahan. MacKinnon, Barkov, Scheifele. All three of them are true number one centres who are a force to play against and elevate the play of the linemates. Monahan is paid more than all three of them and no one outside Calgary thinks he's on their level.
- Hunkulese

Barkov - no playoff success
MacKinnon - limited playoff success
Scheifle - limited playoff success

The Flames let Mack run wild, and yes, he elevates, but you put Bennett with Gaudreau and Johnny isn't scoring 100 points a year either. All of these score at relatively similar rates, all have elite scorers on their wings:

Mack - Rantanaen (2 years ago, Mack was a 50 point producer in back to back seasons)
Scheifle - Laine/Wheeler Scheifle has always been good, but Wheeler is an elite passer and Laine is an elite scorer. Both elevated his game
Barkov - Huberdeau and now Hoffman

Elite centres tend to have elite wingers and vice-versa for either to enjoy success. Mony is not a great skater (nor is Chucky), he isn't overly physical (nor is Johnny), but he thinks the game well, has a great shot and has elevated players around him (Hudler, Colbourne for example).

He's not as dynamic as MacKinnon, I will grant you that, but he's a top line centres on a lot of teams around the league. Mack was thought to be the next Crosby when he was drafted... hasn't lived up to that hype just yet.

They just spent 30 minutes on the Fan echoing pretty much everything I've been saying about Monahan.

Barkov - no playoff success
MacKinnon - limited playoff success
Scheifle - limited playoff success

The Flames let Mack run wild, and yes, he elevates, but you put Bennett with Gaudreau and Johnny isn't scoring 100 points a year either. All of these score at relatively similar rates, all have elite scorers on their wings:

Mack - Rantanaen (2 years ago, Mack was a 50 point producer in back to back seasons)
Scheifle - Laine/Wheeler Scheifle has always been good, but Wheeler is an elite passer and Laine is an elite scorer. Both elevated his game
Barkov - Huberdeau and now Hoffman

Elite centres tend to have elite wingers and vice-versa for either to enjoy success. Mony is not a great skater (nor is Chucky), he isn't overly physical (nor is Johnny), but he thinks the game well, has a great shot and has elevated players around him (Hudler, Colbourne for example).

He's not as dynamic as MacKinnon, I will grant you that, but he's a top line centres on a lot of teams around the league. Mack was thought to be the next Crosby when he was drafted... hasn't lived up to that hype just yet.
- rmull905

Good post. Tell me one GM that wouldnt give up huge assets to acquire Monahan?

They just spent 30 minutes on the Fan echoing pretty much everything I've been saying about Monahan.
- Hunkulese

They just spent an hour on Overdrive grilling Babcock, Tavares & Marner.

So who if anyone is an appropriate upgrade on Monahan?

They just spent 30 minutes on the Fan echoing pretty much everything I've been saying about Monahan.
- Hunkulese

And last year (or the year before?) Warrener wanted to trade Gio.

So who if anyone is an appropriate upgrade on Monahan?
- bsimms

It depends on what tangible or intangible trait you're looking for I suppose. If you're looking for pure speed, guys like MacKinnon are an upgrade, if you're looking for a defensive minded centre, a guy like Bergeron makes sense, if you're looking for size... Dubois? As far as pure scoring goes, barring the super elite (Matthews, McDavid, Stamkos), I don't know who you're going after that is a significant upgrade on what you have already - that's of comparable age and paid similarly.

Guys on the Fan were throwing Kopitar's name around yesterday, that would be a waste IMO. Basically a more expensive Backlund at this point.

One thing I will say about Mony is that you're going to want to sign him short term and or without an NMC on that next contract. Once he hits 30, I think the regression will be swift.

Overall team toughness and meanness may not be the problem, but the issue that caused the Flames to lose to the Av's was that their top line killed our top line, and that line is the furthest thing from meanness there is. Gaudreau won the Lady Byng 2 years ago, and was the runner up last year, now Monahan is a finalist this year. Please show me a top line, anywhere, in which 2/3 of the line are considered "gentlemanly" that is going to find play-off success, regardless how much speed they play with?

For play-off success, Monahan and Gaudreau probably need to be split up.

I don't know what the proper mix is, but maybe :
Gaudreau-Lindholm- Bennett
Monahan-Backlund-Tkachuk

I know this leaves only 1 righty in the top 6 so it isn't ideal, but the off season can rectify that and drop Benny back down to 3rd line. Depending if the addition is a center or RW could dictate where Lindy plays. His flexibility may become more of an asset moving forward.

All I think I know, is that Mony and Johnny may need to play on separate lines in the play-offs for the Flames to succeed, they can always still hook up on the PP together

So who if anyone is an appropriate upgrade on Monahan?
- bsimms

I think Lindholm could be an upgrade on Monahan. Opens up pretty much any option. Kadri is also an interesting choice of someone who is probably available.

I think Lindholm could be an upgrade on Monahan. Opens up pretty much any option. Kadri is also an interesting choice of someone who is probably available.
- Hunkulese

Lindholm 1C, Kadri 2C, Backlund 3C?

I’d be fine with that.

Lindholm 1C, Kadri 2C, Backlund 3C?

I’d be fine with that.
- Ol_Boy_Wop

Provided you have wingers, sure.Kadri and Backlund are fairly similar centres, though I do like that Kadri can get a little greasy - not as big a fan of his propensity to turtle. I am also not a fan of doing the Leafs any favours while they figure out how to pay Kapanen and Marner this off season. If they do move Kadri, they will be hard pressed to take back any salary

So who if anyone is an appropriate upgrade on Monahan?
- bsimms

Well a friend of mine said today a good trade would be monahan to Ottawa plus a first for B tkachuk. Doubt Ottawa would do that.

Well a friend of mine said today a good trade would be monahan to Ottawa plus a first for B tkachuk. Doubt Ottawa would do that.
- pzoxic

God knows I wouldn't.

I still think the Flames are deep enough that the best move they can make with Monahan is use him to get rid of Neal. Package them together and get back the best pick or prospect they can.

There are a lot of better ways to spend 12 million than Monahan and Neal. Can't really think of too many teams that would make that deal though.

So, all 4 division winners lose in the 1st round. Crazy year.

Bingo was right about everything

I still think the Flames are deep enough that the best move they can make with Monahan is use him to get rid of Neal. Package them together and get back the best pick or prospect they can.

There are a lot of better ways to spend 12 million than Monahan and Neal. Can't really think of too many teams that would make that deal though.
- Hunkulese

You're still insane, I see. There is no world where packaging Monahan to get rid of Neal is a good trade for Calgary unless we are completely ripping off another team. If we were to trade Monahan (and I still don't know why people think that's a good idea), it better be for something of actual value and not as part of a package to get rid of a different contract we actually don't want.

I still think a lot of you are overreacting. Dumb trades like this isn't going to get this team anywhere.I know some of you are going to write off the regular season like the team made no strides at all this year but they did. Winning the Conference is a huge step forward. There's still work to be done but this core is good and it makes no sense to trade out pieces from it.

You're still insane, I see. There is no world where packaging Monahan to get rid of Neal is a good trade for Calgary unless we are completely ripping off another team. If we were to trade Monahan (and I still don't know why people think that's a good idea), it better be for something of actual value and not as part of a package to get rid of a different contract we actually don't want.

I still think a lot of you are overreacting. Dumb trades like this isn't going to get this team anywhere.I know some of you are going to write off the regular season like the team made no strides at all this year but they did. Winning the Conference is a huge step forward. There's still work to be done but this core is good and it makes no sense to trade out pieces from it.
- Helios

Is Monahan worth 12 million? If you don't think he is, the Flames come out ahead. Well, as long as Treliving spends that 12 million wisely, which has been a problem.

It's just the way things are with a salary cap. With the plethora of young defencemen and a bunch of cap space, the Flames would be able to fix any issues they have quickly.