What? This is the first year that Eichel's had more points than Monahan, and he's ahead of him by 30.
Eichel is significantly better at every aspect of playing hockey than Monahan except for faceoffs. Even then, the faceoff difference is inconsequential and players tend to improve as they get older.
Eichel is more than an Andersson better than Monahan.
Are you one of those people that was arguing that Monahan was better than Mackinnon because he had more career points for a while?
- Hunkulese
What? This is Monahan's worst season in the last 3... On average, in the last 3 years, Mony has AVERAGED 72points/82 games played. Eichel has averaged 87.
And yes, for a number of years, indisputably, Monahan was the more
productive NHL player. MacKinnon was being openly questioned after his 38 point 2014/15 campaign... kinda the same way way shade is being thrown at Mony for his year this year. There was a lot of doubt over MacKinnon's ceiling prior to 2017/2018 when he broke out. He did, and he's one of the best offensive centres in the NHL right now. Still has a lot of work to do defensively, but that's not unusual for guys like he and Mony. You're not sticking either guy out there to kill 2 minutes in game 7.
At the end of the day, we can argue relative value till we're blue in the face - the FACT of the matter is that there has not been a trade for a player of Eichel's calibre in the last decade that saw a player at the same position of equal value go the other way. It's either been a pure hockey deal, like Johanssen for Jones, a contract/attitude dump - Subban for Weber, or a package deal.
Buffalo doesn't NEED defencemen, but they would 100% need to fill Eichel's spot on that top line if they decide to move him (or he forces their hand). If the latter happens, prices will fall. If the former, Buffalo will maximize the value, and getting a #1 centre, a legit prospect and some +'s is what they can likely expect to receive. It's what the market has set for years now.
