Sean Monahan not only making case to stay with Calgary Flames, but for Calder Trophy as well

Sean Monahan just won’t stop scoring for the Calgary Flames. He might make the life of general manager Jay Feaster a little more simple if he’d take a night off or play a soft game in the NHL, but he’s yet to do so.

A week ago, a hot-button topic was whether or not the Flames should burn a year off of Monahan’s entry-level deal during a season that will likely see them miss the playoffs. Calgary keeps winning hockey games though, and Monahan keeps improving every night. Through eight games played, the 19 year-old rookie has six goals and nine points.

He keeps seeing more and more responsibility heaped onto his plate, and he keeps stepping up.

That stat comes from Monday night’s game, when the Flames downed the Los Angeles Kings by a 3-2 final. Monahan found the back of the net with a power-play goal, and Calgary won another game it was supposed to lose. After one or two weeks, it’s easy to call it a hot start.

But is this the new level of play we can expect from the Flames? They’ll need to start getting some better goaltending, sure. There’s no question that this is a long year, but there’s also no question at this point about where Monahan should be spending his 2013-14 season.

The Ottawa 67’s would love to have the kid back. Instead, he’ll be challenging for the Calder Trophy and sticking with the Flames. It’s literally impossible to send him down at this point. He’s been too good and Calgary fans are too amped up about this team right now to defuse it because of a contract issue.

Which big super star are they saving cap space for three years down the road anyway?