Flames hit the jackpot with sniper Monahan
The scouting staff was right about this guy.
Sean Monahan, without a doubt, was a dandy draft choice for the Calgary Flames.
The scouting staff was a wee bit wrong about this guy, too, and not in a bad way.
“To be honest with you, we thought he was more of a playmaker, and his stats in his draft year bore that out. I mean, he could score, but he had more assists than he did goals,” said Tod Button, Calgary’s longtime director of amateur scouting. “Our evaluation was that he could do both, but that he would be more of a playmaker than a shooter.”
Not the case.
The sixth-overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, Monahan has emerged as one of the NHL’s most prolific snipers.
With Thursday’s tally against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he made history as the youngest marksman in Flames’ franchise history to reach the 100-goal plateau.
That record previously belonged to Joe Nieuwendyk, who was 22 years and 185 days old when he ascended into triple digits in March 1989. Monahan was 51 days younger when he achieved the feat, although Nieuwendyk hit the century mark in just his second full season at the Saddledome.
When the Flames called Monahan’s name in 2013, Button & Co. figured they were welcoming a kid who could contribute right away, but they didn’t forecast that he would rewrite franchise scoring records in his early 20s.
He was the go-to guy for the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s during his draft year, striking 31 times and racking up 47 assists for a basement-dwelling bunch that won just 16 of its 68 games.
“The thing that you look for with good young players, not just Sean, is do they make the right plays at the right time?” Button said. “If the right play is to shoot it, do they shoot or do they try to force the pass? If the right play is to pass it, do they shoot and another guy is open? With Monny, we felt he was pretty well-rounded. His decisionmaking was solid.
“He took the play that was available or the best play. For me, and I think a lot of hockey purists, the centremen have to make their wingers better. They have to make plays through the wings. I think Monny does that, and I think that’s how we saw him moving forward.
“To be where he is, goal scoring, it’s a pleasant surprise. It’s not like we didn’t think he had it in him, we just didn’t think that would be the forefront of his offensive production.”
It has been, although Monahan is on the verge of hitting 100 helpers, too.
To date, Calgary’s top line centre and alternate captain has scored more goals than any other graduate of the 2013 NHL Draft class, by a mile. Colorado Avalanche speeddemon Nathan MacKinnon, the first overall pick that summer, is next best at 71.
Dating back to the start of the 2013-14 campaign, which was Monahan’s rookie season, he’s one of just 19 guys to celebrate 100-plus lamp lightings at hockey’s highest level.
Alex Ovechkin is at the top of the list, followed by Joe Pavelski, Max Pacioretty and some cat named Sidney Crosby.
There’s the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, then Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane, Corey Perry and John Tavares.
Also on that star-studded scroll are Wayne Simmonds, Steven Stamkos, Brad Marchand, Phil Kessel, Jeff Carter, Evgeni Malkin, Zach Parise and Rick Nash. And now Monahan.
“Did I think he was going to score 30 goals twice by the time he was 23 years old? No, I can’t tell you that,” Button said. “We thought he was going to play sooner than later because he was a smart, smart player, and as time went on, he was going to become a real valuable two-way guy.
“But he could shoot it. He had a quick release. You always saw that he didn’t take any time to get rid of it and he was one of those guys that when he shot the puck, he had a quick shot and he was very tricky in his release and accurate. So he scored goals like he scores now. You see it and you go, ‘Oh yeah, he did that in junior, too.’
“With Monny, he wasn’t a takeyou-out- of-your- seat guy, like Johnny Gaudreau on the rush. He was just a nuts and bolts, get ’er done guy. But when he got to the hard areas, the scoring areas, that’s where the quick release showed up and the accuracy showed up.
“You knew he could score, but it wasn’t the flash and dash. It was more workmanlike.”
It still is.
“He’s the same way,” Button said. “He doesn’t cheat the game. He plays hard. He’s smart. He’s dependable. That’s just the way he is. That’s the way he was in junior, too.”