The news that Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk fired his agents Igor Larionov and Ian Pulver was particularly noteworthy yesterday. Galchenyuk is set to become a restricted free agent as of July 1st. His decision to cut ties with Larionov is a sure sign that negotiations were not going in the direction that Galchenyuk desired. Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin is known to be a fan of bridge contracts, preferring his players to prove themselves when it comes time for their “real raise… (see P.K. Subban). Galchenyuk has no arbitration rights coming off of his entry level contract and is continually developing as a hockey player. With a projected salary cap of approximately $71 million for the 2015-2016 season, it comes as no surprise that Bergevin will play hardball with Galchenyuk.
Galchenyuk was drafted 3rd overall by the Canadiens in the 2012 NHL Draft and is the points (104) and games played (193) leader of all players from his draft year. Comparatively, Nail Yakupov was drafted 1st overall by the Edmonton Oilers and has scored 88 points in 192 games played. Yakupov and Galchenyuk are close friends having played junior hockey together with the Sarnia Sting and coincidentally or not, had shared the same agent (Larionov) until Galchenyuk decided to cut his ties. Larionov recently had negotiated a 2 year bridge deal for Yakupov worth an AAV of $2.5 million. It would not be out of the realm of possibility to imagine that he would have attempted to negotiate something similar for Galchenyuk. Larionov’s comments to Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette were telling yesterday:
“I tried to make him understand that he has to be patient,… Larionov said. “I had to wait when I was a young player; every great player has a time when he’s going to be on the bench, but you have to learn that’s part of the game.…
And so it seems that Galchenyuk is either running out of patience with the Canadiens or is deeming himself worthy of of big contract. This is pure speculation, but perhaps Galchenyuk is open to signing an offer sheet and Larionov did not want to pursue that avenue. Galchenyuk was drafted as a #1 centreman and through 3 seasons he has yet to establish himself as a full time centre. Bergevin’s end of season comments when he openly questioned if Galchenyuk would ever be a centreman was eyebrow raising to say the least. The expectation has always been that Galchenyuk would become the Habs #1 centre, most likely with Max Pacioretty on his wing. Just before the midway point of this past season that experiment happened with Brendan Gallagher on the other wing. The offensive potential was electrifying at times. However Galchenyuk still needed to work on the defensive responsibilities of being an everyday centreman in the NHL. With the Habs being a defense oriented team, Galchenyuk was relegated back to the wing. In the playoffs, Galchenyuk (and the team in general) struggled on offense and many were clamoring for Galchenyuk to be moved back to centre. With Galchenyuk playing with little confidence, Therrien was hesitant to do so.
It has been rumoured that Galchenyuk has been unhappy with his role and time with the Canadiens, however each season he has been given more ice time and continually developed his overall game. In 2014-2015 he averaged 16:25 time on ice, just over 2 minutes a game more than in 2013-2014. Galchenyuk scored 20 goals in the season and improved from a -12 to a +8. For Galchenyuk to take the next step as a centre, he has to be given a fair opportunity in the coming season. 9 games is not enough of a sample size. 20 games at the minimum would be very telling as to where Galchenyuk stands. However he has to do his part and work on faceoffs as well as study tape to have a better grasp of the demands that would be placed on him. While the numbers are not public as to what the Canadiens may be offering Galchenyuk, he would be wise to accept a bridge deal. Galchenyuk’s ceiling is obviously very high and while he has accomplished a lot in 3 seasons, there is still more work to be done. He will be rewarded in time, it’s just that time has not yet come.
At least Bergevin had some good news yesterday as he was officially named to the management team of Hockey Canada’s 2016 World Cup Team. Along with Ken Holland, Rob Blake, Bob Murray and Scott Salmond, Bergevin will be assisting general manager Doug Armstrong. This is a phenomenal opportunity for him to work with other keen hockey minds and build a winner for Canada. It is also a huge compliment to Bergevin on how others view the work that he has been doing as GM of the Canadiens. Bergevin has been able to build a competitive Montreal Canadiens squad for three years in a row making the playoffs in each season. It is terrific to see him being rewarded!
Follow me on Twitter Follow @Jenbcutler