Happy Friday. Who wants some third line center rumors?
Last night on TSN Insider
Darren Dreger spoke about the Penguins and embattled Montreal center Alex Galchenyuk. And yes, Galchenyuk can play center. For whatever reason the Canadiens aren’t willing to put their full trust into Galchenyuk. He is currently in the “dog house…. His underlying numbers are worthy of somebody that shouldn’t be in a dog house.
He can generate offense.
His sophomore season was low, but everything else is either really good or “fine…. In a third line role in Pittsburgh life would be good for him.
Possession wise he’s been fine as well
Something to remember about Galchenyuk’s career track is that he missed close to two months last year and only appeared in 61 games. His numbers last year are good with that context. He prior two seasons showed great growth and I would be willing to bet on Galchenyuk “bouncing back… from his 2016-17 season.
Here’s a snap shot of what he’s done lately
I’m not concerned about the bad shot suppression. The Penguins are an offense first team and adding a center of this caliber on the third line would be an amazing thing. Pittsburgh would be able to roll three solid scoring lines and the fourth line would improve because of the trickle down effect.
So what does a Galchenyuk trade for Pittsburgh look like? I have no idea. Marc Bergevin traded a younger PK Subban for an older Shea Weber recently. He is not above making a horrendous trade. I would think players like Olli Maatta and Daniel Sprong would be thrown around as pieces of a Galchenyuk trade. What I do know is that Galchenyuk makes 4.9M and Pittsburgh would have to lose some salary somewhere to make this work
If Galchenyuk really is available then the Penguins need to inquire. Bergervin would be selling low and has a track record of going off the deep end when trading some of Montreal’s valuable pieces. Who knows what happens here, but until the third line center trade happens we’ll continue to let the speculation fly.
Thanks for reading!