Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk has had quite the year so far.
In March, the former third-overall draft pick reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career. Just a few months later, he signed a two-year, $5.6 million contract to remain in Montreal–a bridge deal that could turn out quite well for Galchenyuk should he continue to progress offensively over the next two seasons.
It seems he’ll get all the opportunity needed to do just that, as Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin indicated recently that Galchenyuk will suit up primarily as a centreman in 2015-16.
While he was drafted as a pivot back in 2012, Galchenyuk has been used primarily on the wing so far in Montreal. He played most often alongside Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher last season (per LeftWingLock.com) while seeing limited time at the centre position throughout.
Galchenyuk did have a few moments of brilliance playing as the team’s lead pivot, however. After being moved up in December to centre the first line between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, Galchenyuk strung together four goals and nine points in nine games, establishing some exceptional chemistry with Pacioretty before being moved back to the wing for the rest of 2014-15.
A permanent move to the middle of the ice seems to set the young Milwaukee native up for a strong offensive season, if for no other reason than it means he’ll likely suit up alongside Pacioretty once again, and will get more time to establish that promising chemistry.
The two American scorers were fantastic together in their small window, stringing together a consistent offensive push that had both of them earn some quality opportunities–culminating in Galchenyuk’s first career hat-trick midway through the season.
The pair’s success stemmed from their exceptional ability to read off eachother–something that, according to Pacioretty, came from a natural instinctual connection between the two. He had this to say about his time on Galchenyuk’s wing according to The Montreal Gazette:
“The thing I like about our line is that we’re just reacting. We’re not really thinking out there, and that makes us dangerous. We’re starting to make plays on instinct and it’s fun when you play like that.”
Pushing Galchenyuk back to the middle of the ice means that one of Montreal’s other centremen–Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, Lars Eller, and Torrey Mitchell–must move to the wing. Desharnais got the call last time Galchenyuk lined up at centre, and the diminutive scorer performed well in the altered role.
Desharnais has been open about moving to the wing, and about knowing that Galchenyuk’s eventual role would be as the top-line centre. Moving out to the wing could serve as a boost not only to Galchenyuk, however. Should the young star return to the top line with Pacioretty and Gallagher, Desharnais could very well play alongside Plekanec on the second line. That is a shift that would bring some easier opposition, as the top line would attract the opposing teams’ top defensive units, leaving Plekanec and Desharnais to go to work against the secondary group.
For Galchenyuk, the move seems to be a significant step forward either way.
He could suit up alongside Pacioretty, which would give him the chance to spend a full season exploiting some promising chemistry. Or, even if Galchenyuk is given a second-line role–with Plekanec returning to the top trio–the young pivot would likely be joined by new addition Alex Semin, another capable scorer who could do some serious damage in his first season as a Canadien.
The position change will require an adjustment period, and a notable improvement in the defensive side of the game. While the Canadiens brass feel that Galchenyuk has the offensive skill and vision to cut it as a top-six centre in the NHL, they also acknowledge that he’ll have to up his two-way skill if he wants to remain there.
Bergevin said this about the the learning process that Galchenyuk has been going through, in regards to succeeding in all aspects of the position. As per NHL.com:
“Centerman is a hard position to learn. There’s a lot of responsibility as a centerman, offensively and defensively. There’s signs that hockey people, our staff, look for, and we felt that he wasn’t ready [last season]. Now we feel that he is getting really close, and it’s time for us to know and for him to know if he can really fill that role.”
While it will be a tall task, Galchenyuk has received a strong vote of confidence from his club, as he’ll enter the season with some stability in terms of knowing his role.
One of the club’s unequivocal leaders, and possibly Galchenyuk’s future linemate, seems to think the move is a smart one as well. Pacioretty had this to say about his young teammate’s chances of finding success at centre-ice, according to theGazette post:
“He wants to learn. He wants to be a two-way centre. He wants to be a goal-scorer, he wants to be a playmaker, he wants to improve every area of his game. We’re thankful to have a player with that potential, but also with that mindset of wanting to be the player we want him to be.”
Notable in this discussion is the fact that, while Galchenyuk has played primarily as a winger in Montreal, he is well-versed in the centre position, having played there during his entire pre-NHL career. His final pre-NHL effort came for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, where Galchenyuk potted an astounding 61 points in 33 games as the team’s top centre.
The shift to the middle of the ice is simply a return for the young forward, and should bring an improved performance due to the fact that he’ll be once again playing the game the way he did during his key developmental years.
Galchenyuk’s goal scoring doesn’t figure to undergo a rapid transition due to the change. He scored the majority of his goals last season either in the slot or close to the net-front, so his tendency to bee-line to the cage should remain intact regardless of where he lines up for faceoffs.
Considering he’ll get a full season alongside either Pacioretty or Semin, Galchenyuk’s 20-goal, 46-point stat line from last season could very well get bumped up in 2015-16. He doesn’t seem destined to lead the club in scoring quite yet, but at only 21 years old, the potential is there. Should he flourish at the centre position and push that 20-goal ceiling up past the 30-goal mark, the Canadiens could find themselves in a P.K. Subban-esque position once again–forced to pay top dollar after choosing to go the bridge-deal route.
It remains to be seen how exactly Galchenyuk performs in the new role, and how exactly Therrien structures his line combinations. But either way, Galchenyuk figures to wind up in an advantageous situation, and should be poised to take the next step in 2015-16.
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