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Ottawa 67′s Sean Monahan shows he is a NHLer already, playing hurt for a mathematically eliminated team

Neate Sager

The contrast between the environment Ottawa 67's star Sean Monahan plays in and those of fellow top NHL draft prospects Jonathan Drouin, Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones is unmistakable. It's so obvious I wondered if anyone needed to have it pointed out, honestly.

In every draft class, there are players whose gifts seem all the more awesome since they are doing it on a dominant team. Others toil away with a bottom-feeder. It can lead to criticism because it is Clichés 101 that a great player makes everyone around him better. It might also led to being overlooked or downgraded when people make draft rankings, since being out of sight can lead to being out of mind.

Jones' Portland Winterhawks are the favourite to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup. Drouin, MacKinnon and their Halifax Mooseheads have clinched the Quebec League regular-season title three weeks in advance, although they might not have the depth or experience to win the Memorial Cup. Each powerhouse seems to having a teeming bandwagon in its home market.

Monahan's situation could have been been cooked up in the Ironic Punishment Division: take an 18-year-old centre who might be close to NHL ready and have him play home games in a NHL arena that will be empty for weeknight game and feel anything but homey to his displaced OHL team. (I forget who said it, but the line is that the 67's have 68 road games.) No one wanted it to happen this way, but it just so happened 67's began rebuilding at roughly the same point that owner Jeff Hunt moved his team from the Ottawa Civic Centre to Scotiabank Place so the revitalization of the Lansdowne Park site could proceed.

That hurts the wow factor. But when one scouting service ranked Monahan eighth for the draft earlier this month — third among OHLers, after two hulking defencemen, Sault Ste. Marie's Darnell Nurse and London's Nikita Zadorov — it was a head-scratcher.

That might be accurate, who knows. Two seasons ago the Philadelphia Flyers nabbed another 18-year-old centre named Sean, Sean Couturier, at No. 8 overall and he stepped directly into their lineup. Three NHL.com mocks published on Monday pegged Monahan as either the No. 8 or No. 9 overall pick.

The larger point is this is a deep draft and he might surpass other players in NHL readiness. Last weekend kind of proved the point. One could just point out that Monahan, with 26 goals and 69 points in 50 games, is still a top-15 scorer in the OHL despite a 10-game suspension and despite not being complemented by top-notch talent. Then you take in what happened over the last two games. Monahan went out with back injury after crashing heavily into the boards in the first period on Friday when Ottawa lost to the Oshawa Generals and was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 1995, which was back when Ottawa coach-GM Chris Byrne was still an active junior player.

That distinction didn't sneak up on anyone, but it's still a downer. Surely Monahan, with a banged-up back and officially nothing to play for in the standings, would sit out. The 67's, who practise at another rink, initially didn't even bring their captain's equipment to the rink. Instead Monahan suited up and scored two goals to help the 67's try to keep up with top team in their conference, the Belleville Bulls.

From Alex Quevillon (@A_Quevillon):

“We talk about compete level and hard work and he leads us in those categories,” added Byrne about his captain. “Many fans don't know how sore he was going into today's game. Credit to him and how much he wanted to play.”

... Monahan was such a last-second decision to play that his equipment wasn't originally brought to the rink. After being picked apart by International Scouting Service, this type of effort could show the character that an NHL team wants in a player. (Ottawa 67's blog)

That is Monahan in a nutshell. He didn't make a big deal out of it ("Playing through pain is something an athlete always has to do, playing through is just part of your character"). Since hockey players know not to say anything about playing hurt. He doesn't need to put up on a cross for the accomplishment since we need the lumber, but it boils down to how draft watchers can caught up with the big, shiny things.

Going from junior to NHL at 18, 19 or 20 years old is in the details. I don't claim to be any kind of sophisticated hockey watcher, but having been a semi-regular at 67's games over Monahan's time here, he looks to be on a fast track toward playing in NHL arenas all the time. Ottawa being dead last in the OHL doesn't reflect badly on him.

From Ottawa play-by-play brodcaster AJ Jakubec (@AJonSports):

It's understandable if any scouts haven't watched as much of Monahan as other players. He is in his third season, not his second, so there could be less urgency to see him. Scouts also like to work in volume and go where they can watch several draft-year players. Watching Ottawa might not offer that benefit. Still, Monahan is awfully good.

It would not shock if he went from making the best of an adverse situation in the OHL to having a good one in the NHL. If not next season, then by no later than 2014-15.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.