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Habs Report Cards: Alex Galchenyuk |
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Habs Report Cards - Alex Galchenyuk
Grade: B+
Alex Galchenyuk enjoyed his best season in the NHL to date but unfortunately it was not good enough to be named to Team North America’s roster for this year’s World Cup of Hockey. Drafted 3rd overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2012, Galchenyuk’s NHL career has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. He was always meant to become that big #1 centre that the Canadiens have so desperately needed but was brought along slowly, having made the team as an 18 year old in the 2012-2013 shortened lockout season. Since then, the transition to center has occurred at a snail’s pace, with fans impatience growing daily.
Finally at the team’s golf tournament last September, it was announced that Galchenyuk would be starting the season as a center. Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien visited Galchenyuk in Florida early in the Summer and gave him the news so that he would have the full-offseason to prepare accordingly. When training camp officially opened, Galchenyuk found himself centering the Canadiens 2nd line between Lars Eller and Alex Semin. While the line clicked during training camp, Semin’s failure to keep up once the regular season started is well known. Despite the line’s struggles, Galchenyuk still managed to record 7 points in the first 10 games of the season.
After experiencing a rotation of wingers on the right side, Sven Andrighetto had the greatest success replacing Semin on the right of Galchenyuk. However, the injury to Brendan Gallagher in November left the Canadiens top six in disarray. Galchenyuk was briefly tried at right wing playing alongside Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty but that did not work. For one game in early December he centered the #1 line with Pacioretty and Andrighetto against the Boston Bruins. In ways though, Galchenyuk was being set up to fail that night:
With just one practice before they hit the ice, Therrien did nothing to shield Galchenyuk from the Bruins top players and had Galchenyuk go head to head against David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. From this one bad game, Therrien deemed that Pacioretty and Galchenyuk had no chemistry together, despite their brief success from when they played 10 game together in the 2014-2015 season.
From then on, Galchenyuk would bounce from center to wing as linemates would be various combinations that included Galchenyuk with Lars Eller and Dale Weise, David Desharnais and Weise, Eller and Daniel Carr, Plekanec and Eller… Even when Desharnais injured his foot in mid-February, Therrien sooner tried Eller as the top line center rather than Galchenyuk. It was a move that baffled most fans and hockey minds. At the least, Galchenyuk eventually found himself playing center again between Eller and Andrighetto and the trio once again clicked. With 5 goals in 5 games and Desharnais still injured, Therrien finally had little choice but to promote Galchenyuk to the top line, centering Pacioretty and Gallagher. Despite Gallagher getting injured in the first period, Galchenyuk would score 2 goals, both assisted by Pacioretty and disproving Therrien that there was zero chemistry between them. For the last 17 games of the season playing with Pacioretty, Galchenyuk would record 17 points, 11 of which were goals. The line’s true potential was evident once Gallagher returned for the last 4 games of the season as they were a true dominant #1 line. Those last four games of the season should hopefully be a preview of what is to come.
While Galchenyuk will likely never be known as strong two way center, he performed well enough in his own end and certainly better than Desharnais. He still has to work on checking hard down low and communicating with his teammates but Galchenyuk did improve and I would imagine that he will continue to progress next year with his added responsibility as the team’s #1 center. Galchenyuk has had a taste of success and he knows that it is in the team’s and his own best interest to play him with Pacioretty and Gallagher (barring any crazy trades or big UFA signings). Simply, Galchenyuk at center gives the Canadiens a better chance at winning and that should be more than enough to convince Therrien to keep him there and let him work through any rough patches.
Cheers & follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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