Player Discussion: Sean Monahan

[Fred Glover]

Per usual people will complain about the player, term, cost, whatever in a new signing yet cry when their favorite player (who btw hasn’t contributed to a winning culture since he has been here) is removed from the team via trade, waivers, or release
Yet the new signing will quickly become a fan favorite the moment he hits the ice in the CBJ colors.
Whatever
Welcome to the club Sean. Happy to have you and happy that you want to be here
Best wishes for a long healthy and productive career with the Jackets
We will be rooting for you

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

He totally did, except for the part where his defensive failures erased his every 5v5 contribution.

If this is the issue, I'm willing to listen, but the question was why did he suck the last two years, and was answered easily.

Defense can be questioned. Could be any number of things. Guys can go from poor to adequate fairly quickly. And most notable, imo, is that coaching helps players defend more than individual effort. If you played for a flawed system, you can be the best individual defender in the world, you likely aren't going to be considered good at it.

Proof is in the pudding, Monahan has played at a high level before, and has shown that he can be a 2nd line center right away, a huge hole we've had for years. I'll accept some flaws the the upside.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I mean if you understand the NHL, good center play is paramount. They put Boone Jenner on his line , who had a whopping 13 a on the season . So yes , having competent center play should dramatically help Gaudreau produce

It definitely would.

Unfortunately, that is not Monahan.

 

[Crede777]

Outside of Fantilli... I think the Jackets have the slowest group of centers in the league.

Monahan, Sillinger, Voronkov, Kuraly. Kuraly isn't  bad but the others sure are.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

If this is the issue, I'm willing to listen, but the question was why did he suck the last two years, and was answered easily.

Defense can be questioned. Could be any number of things. Guys can go from poor to adequate fairly quickly. And most notable, imo, is that coaching helps players defend more than individual effort. If you played for a flawed system, you can be the best individual defender in the world, you likely aren't going to be considered good at it.

Proof is in the pudding, Monahan has played at a high level before, and has shown that he can be a 2nd line center right away, a huge hole we've had for years. I'll accept some flaws the the upside.

Monahan has been a defensive liability his entire career, this isn't news.

 

[Viqsi]

If this is the issue, I'm willing to listen, but the question was why did he suck the last two years, and was answered easily.

Defense can be questioned. Could be any number of things. Guys can go from poor to adequate fairly quickly. And most notable, imo, is that coaching helps players defend more than individual effort. If you played for a flawed system, you can be the best individual defender in the world, you likely aren't going to be considered good at it.

Proof is in the pudding, Monahan has played at a high level before, and has shown that he can be a 2nd line center right away, a huge hole we've had for years. I'll accept some flaws the the upside.

He pretty consistently dragged folks to "slightly better offense at the cost of defense" on both teams he was on last season, and that's been the book on him for years. I'm not sure why folks are thinking that's going to change now.

There are circumstances under which that would be an acceptable tradeoff. But in our case, it is the exact polar opposite of what this team has desperately needed and still desperately needs.

 

[Fred Glover]

Craig Button, I believe, alluded to the fact that Laine is a premier goal scorer but needs someone to get him the puck in areas where he can score
So it seems that the answer to your question is yes, NHL stars need complementary players

And what? Johnny Gaudreau, the NHL "star" needs special players? Can't he lead the team?
So we have a 30 year old player under his age of 35 whose defense is mediocre

From the Athletic
TSN analyst Craig Button, a former NHL GM, speaking with The Athletic’s Michael Russo, had some pointed words for the Blue Jackets when discussing Laine and the possibility that he could be traded to Minnesota: “What does he do as well as anybody? He scores,” Button said. “So he ends up in Columbus. No center. Patrik Laine needs somebody that’s going to get him the puck, right? So now you get disappointed. ‘Oh, he’s not scoring.’ Now he puts pressure on himself and whatnot. If you put players in the right situation, I don’t care where you are, then I think a player can thrive and be successful. Patrik is an elite goal-scorer. How many elite goal scorers are there in the National Hockey League? Not that many. I’m talking elite, one of the very best.”

 

[stevo61]

I mean if you understand the NHL, good center play is paramount. They put Boone Jenner on his line , who had a whopping 13 a on the season . So yes , having competent center play should dramatically help Gaudreau produce

Gaudreau has had his own faults he needs to improve on also. A lot more to his issues than his center

 

[GoJackets1]

I know some have fancier stats than I do here but this shows me that Monahan has had very solid possession numbers for his whole career, even in his down years. These are better possession numbers than every forward on our roster except for Johnny and Marchenko (who has a small sample obviously). This gives me hope that he is a better overall player, who can tilt the ice in our favor when he's healthy, than others have suggested.

Again, at the very least he's a solid upgrade on Roslovic for only $1.5m more.

 

[Napoli]

Waddell is either on the path to something brilliant or on the path to burying this franchise once and for all.


I don't hate Monahan, contract is a lot but whatever.

Just feels like a pretty major gamble.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I mean if you understand the NHL, good center play is paramount. They put Boone Jenner on his line , who had a whopping 13 a on the season . So yes , having competent center play should dramatically help Gaudreau produce

boone's biggest strength is that he goes to the front of the net and can score from in tight. his biggest weakness is that he is absolutely not a playmaker in the middle of the ice.

monahan's biggest strength is his playmaking and he also is very good at getting to the front of the net and scoring from in tight.

for everyone clamoring for 'more boone jenners' – we just got one, except this one's a playmaker, too.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Lukewarm to it. At least one year too much. Veteran presence is good. CBJ will need offensive firepower when Laine leaves. Some relief for Jenner will be nice. But I would have thought that a two-way C would be better. You know, to help with that GA thing? On that note, I thought Columbus were prioritising D?

Looking at what the candid and transparent D-Wad has said about July 1st:

• Not making any big splashes.
• Looking at D and maybe a bottom 6 F.
• Some of the worst decisions are made today.

1/3 ain't bad. Jokes aside, I will be intrigued to see how Waddell reasoned here.

I hope Monahan performs better than expected and that he clicks with Gaudreau.

I'm rationalising this by choosing to believe that Waddell has some Laine-for-D trades on his desk for when Laine comes out of the assistance program.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I know some have fancier stats than I do here but this shows me that Monahan has had very solid possession numbers for his whole career, even in his down years. These are better possession numbers than every forward on our roster except for Johnny and Marchenko (who has a small sample obviously). This gives me hope that he is a better overall player, who can tilt the ice in our favor when he's healthy, than others have suggested.

Again, at the very least he's a solid upgrade on Roslovic for only $1.5m more.

View attachment 890738

All Situations numbers are pretty much meaningless. His 5v5 numbers are not good.

 

[Viqsi]

Waddell is either on the path to something brilliant or on the path to burying this franchise once and for all.

He's arguably got past experience with both, depending on how much credit one gives him for Carolina's competitiveness.

 

[CannonFire1]

If he was a true 1C we'd be paying double this contract. Anyone at this price point will have warts.

He totally did, except for the part where his defensive failures erased his every 5v5 contribution.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Waddell is either on the path to something brilliant or on the path to burying this franchise once and for all.


I don't hate Monahan, contract is a lot but whatever.

Just feels like a pretty major gamble.

Bobby Mac is live on spaces , raving over the improvements Waddell has made in such a short time . Team will not be soft , we have big centers down the middle .. people need to realize there are still pieces to fall

 

[Viqsi]

If he was a true 1C we'd be paying double this contract. Anyone at this price point will have warts.

I don't care about "true 1C" status, I just want someone who'd actually be useful defensively since that's our biggest weak spot.

 

[Viqsi]

Bobby Mac is live on spaces , raving over the improvements Waddell has made in such a short time . Team will not be soft , we have big centers down the middle .. people need to realize there are still pieces to fall

...most of which have already fallen to divisional rivals...

 

[GoJackets1]

All Situations numbers are pretty much meaningless. His 5v5 numbers are not good.

View attachment 890755

Ah darn, somehow I didn't see that filter up there. Good to know. Not as happy then, but ultimately I think he'll be a welcome addition and is a decent veteran center to help us transition into the next era. On paper the cap hit/term sucks, but cap is rising so deals in the 5m range don't really break the bank much anymore. I think I'd rather have this than Bertuzzi on his new deal.

 

[NotCommitted]

Well... well well well.

Money and term are what they are, I don't think it's a horrible contract, if he plays at the upper end of reasonable expectations it's actually pretty good. Jarmo got a lot of flak for failing to get a center, D-Wad gets a center and gets... lots of flak?

I mean I get it, he's not perfect, but 5.5m AAV for vet center is either going to be a really meh center or involve a degree of gamble, or both.

Hope it works out well, I won't complain until I see him suck.

 

[Napoli]

Bobby Mac is live on spaces , raving over the improvements Waddell has made in such a short time . Team will not be soft , we have big centers down the middle .. people need to realize there are still pieces to fall

I think Waddell could trade Fantilli for future considerations and Bobby Mac would find a positive spin for it.

Him ranting and raving isn't surprising nor does it put my mind at ease.

I wouldn't say Monahan is hard to play against, or able to stay healthy for that matter.

This deal at the least is damn concerning. Him and Johnny better cook.

 

[Doggy]

I am far less down on this contract than a lot of people here.

Term: in a world where GMs typically hand out free agent contracts to players taking them to their 37+ age, we signed a guy that takes him to his 34 age. That's a win in today's NHL.

Dollars: $5.5M per season, maybe it's an overpay but if we had kept Tex and Bean, I think they would have totaled the same amount of salary. That means we basically swapped a 4th line energy/PK forward who chokes every time he gets promoted and a defenseman barely holding on to a 3rd pairing pairing job for a guy who will start as our 1C and likely slide down to 2C in the next couple years. I call that smart roster management.

Other options: I don't see any other great answers out there in UFA-land and nobody on the current roster is ready for this role. So if you were all excited about running back the same top six as last year that helped land us the 4th worst record in the league...have at it.

And haven't any of us learned yet...the last year or two of a contract means nothing. Players can almost always be moved or waived if needed. This is not a problem contract. The cap keeps rising so the % of cap a player signs for today will be much lower in 3-5 years. It just won't matter.

Welcome to the team Sean, go kick some ass!

 

[CBJx614]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807819602455380165

At least the kids now have two guys to learn proper draw techniques from.

 

[ViD]

I mean he’s 29, just played a full season and scored 60 points.

Given the UFA status and Columbus reputation, this contract seems exactly what I would expect for him.

Now, hopefully, this signing rejuvenates JG.

 

[VT]

Craig Button, I believe, alluded to the fact that Laine is a premier goal scorer but needs someone to get him the puck in areas where he can score
So it seems that the answer to your question is yes, NHL stars need complementary players

From the Athletic
TSN analyst Craig Button, a former NHL GM, speaking with The Athletic’s Michael Russo, had some pointed words for the Blue Jackets when discussing Laine and the possibility that he could be traded to Minnesota: “What does he do as well as anybody? He scores,” Button said. “So he ends up in Columbus. No center. Patrik Laine needs somebody that’s going to get him the puck, right? So now you get disappointed. ‘Oh, he’s not scoring.’ Now he puts pressure on himself and whatnot. If you put players in the right situation, I don’t care where you are, then I think a player can thrive and be successful. Patrik is an elite goal-scorer. How many elite goal scorers are there in the National Hockey League? Not that many. I’m talking elite, one of the very best.”

Laine played with Jenner before worse d-men (first pass) and despite his injuries, he had 1PPG. He had a 0.94 average on the next season, the best on the team, with Roslovic who is a worse center than Jenner. And again, despite the injuries.

Show me a playmaker in his lines? He played worse with Gaudreau and only few games with Johnson.
Still, he had great stats playing 5v5 in 2012/22 and 2022/23, especially the latter.

And we're defending Gaudreau here.

Btw, if these "analysts" watched Columbus, they would see that he plays better without a playmaker.

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I would understand Monahan with 2 season, but not 5. Of course I am not against salary, know our problems.