NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: Steady Sean Monahan ranked No. 23

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

Sean Monahan has had an interesting career so far. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft has already recorded three consecutive seasons with 27 or more goals, yet it seems like he’s never quite gotten the attention he deserves.

On Twitter, a parody of Monahan affectionately known as “Boring Sean Monahan” has nearly 62,000 followers. Monahan’s actual, verified personal account, meanwhile, has just 37,400.

That feels like a microcosm to some degree of how Monahan has fallen under the radar among young NHL stars, despite a resume that stands out. Since immediately making the leap to the NHL in 2013 as a 19-year-old, Monahan has been among the most consistent scorers in the league.

Over the past three seasons, Monahan has recorded 85 goals, which is the 17th-most of any player in the league, per Play Index. The three players directly ahead of him on the list are Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos, and Corey Perry, as if you needed an idea of the company he’s in. His goals-per-game figure is almost identical to Connor McDavid’s.

But the hype has eluded Monahan to a large degree, even though Calgary has committed to him as one of its core players. The Flames signed the 22-year-old last year to monster extension worth $6.375 million annually through the 2022-23 season.

That shows how much his own team appreciates him, and with his place on this list, he’s at least getting some love from the wider public, too. Monahan might be boring on social media, but he’s a lot more exciting on the ice.

As mentioned before, Monahan has established himself as one of the best scorers in the NHL. He’s recorded at least 27 goals in each of the last three seasons, including a career-high 31 in 2014-15 when he was just 20 years old.

Monahan’s leap from the juniors to the NHL was a rare feat for a member of the Flames. The last Calgary rookie to go directly from juniors to a permanent spot in the big leagues in his draft year was Kevin LaVallee in 1980-81.

And then Monahan quickly proved that he fit in with the big boys. As a rookie, he finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting after recording 22 goals and 34 points in 75 games. The next season, he’d break out with 31 goals and 62 points to quickly live up to the hype as a high draft pick.

When he scored his 100th career goal in February, it made him the sixth-fastest active NHL player to reach that mark behind Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin, and Patrick Kane. That’s about as good company as you can possibly be in.

Now the next steps for Monahan will be rounding out his all-around game and pushing his teams to greater heights. Monahan has never gotten past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs or won a medal with Team Canada at a major international competition. Those would be nice adds to an already strong resume.

One of the trends that’s been interesting to follow with Monahan over the past few years is how his usage has changed. He’s taken an increasingly large proportion of offensive zone starts, and last season, he had his 5-on-5 ice time cut significantly.

Those usually aren’t great signs for a young player taking his game to the next level. Monahan played 14.7 minutes per game at 5-on-5 back in 2014-15, but that dropped to just 13.1 minutes per game last season, per Hockey-Reference. The efficiency was still there — his points and shots on goal per 60 minutes were the best of his career — but usually guys take larger roles as they go into their mid-20s, not smaller ones.

So there are reasonable questions to be asked about how the Flames and coach Glen Gulutzan plan to use Monahan going forward, which makes it more difficult to peg down just exactly how good he is.

There are still lots of positives, though. Monahan recorded 27 goals and 58 points last season, so it’s not like his numbers took a huge dip. And his faceoff work has steadily improved with his success rate going from 45.9 percent as a rookie to 51.5 percent in 2016-17.

But he’s never been a great driver of possession at even strength, and that hasn’t really changed over the past few years despite the coaching staff’s effort to take some pressure off of him.

Still, he’s a guy who can reliably give you 25-30 goals per year, and that’s incredibly valuable in the current NHL.

Monahan isn’t the easiest player to judge because he’s been so good out of the gate early in his NHL career, but it seems like this may be the best that we get from him. He hasn’t really shown signs of another gear to his game yet, whether it’s as a playmaker or penalty killer or some other aspect.

Scoring ability is more important than anything for forwards, and that’s where Monahan has shone brightest. But he’ll need to round out his game to hit another level, and that’s been a work-in-progress for the young star.

Highest rank: No. 9

Lowest rank: Not ranked