You're right, this is tiring.

"tdl or somethin"

Monahan wasn't a weak skater when he was at his best in Calgary and he hasn't been a weak skater. The knock on him as a prospect wasn't that he was a weak skater, it was that he wasn't a fluid skater. His skating became a problem when the injuries became a problem for him.

Regarding Monahan, one thing has become clear. His cap dump status was only because he was playing injured the past couple years while his cap was too high for any team to gamble on, not because he's washed up. Obviously its still early but he looks healthy and driven to start this year and the production is following. Habs are also making sure to play him to ensure he keeps the production up. I don't think he'll be a 60-70 point guy this year but 50 point pace isn't a stretch at all. A still in his prime center who wins faceoffs and is defensively responsible scoring at that pace will get something along the lines of what Copp got last year.

There will be teams interested in this guy this year and a late 1st isn't out of the realm of possibility at all if he keeps up this pace. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. We'll just have to wait and see. It will be a TDL deal for sure. I don't think the Habs are seriously considering resigning him though, they're just using that as a tactic in trade negotiation to hopefully lure a team into getting to the price they'd want. He'll be moved one way or another.

Sorry, you're making too much sense. You have to fit the narrative of "all Habs players are cap dumps who can't increase their value" and "all Habs fans massively overvalue their players".

Why do MTL fans assume Monahan is going to buck 4 years of declining play and go from being a cap dump to a guy worth a 1st round pick?

Because he's finally healthy after years of injury, he is currently playing very good and it looks like it'll be sustainable.

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/646899?post_id=3635263

Six games after being a cap dump means about as much as everyday in the week ending in Y. We won’t even get into how stylistically he is a bad fit for COL, or that you’re declaration of health some how is the reason his Production sagged for 4 consecutive seasons is now at end. It’s a hard fast no from COL on Monahan always, because he isn’t worth it.