Kings' coach Darryl Sutter praises Flames' Sean Monahan

The Los Angeles Kings may want to beat up on the Calgary Flames Thursday, but head coach Darryl Sutter had only kind words for one of the opposition's budding stars.

Following his team's practice Wednesday, the King's bench boss boasted about Flames' forward Sean Monahan. 

"Everyone talks about the centermen in this conference and they don’t talk about Sean Monahan. They should," Sutter told reporters. 

Sutter even went as far to suggest that the 20-year-old Monahan rivals some of the best all-around centers in the league. 

"He's probably in that (Jonathan) Toews group in terms of that all-around guy who can play minutes and play situations and play against top guys," Sutter said. 

Sutter makes a great point, Monahan leads the Flames with 31 goals to go along with 30 assists. 

You can expect the Kings will pay extra attention to Monahan Thursday when the teams duke it out. The Kings trail the Flames by two points for third spot in the Pacific Division.