And do you really think CJ is doing this just for fun?
There's a reason he's ended on the 4th line...if Galchenyuk was playing up to the level of his talent, like we all know he can, he wouldn't be on the 4th line.
That being said...it's lasted long enough, and the Drouin-Pacioretty connection isn't catching fire right now.
Time to try new solutions.
Relax guys it's only preseason. Drouin, Hudon, Lehkonen are showing more effort. It's imperative that we keep these shitty lines together despite showing no chemistry. Not like preseason would have been a good time to try some lines that might have worked instead of feeding us Galchenyuk with Danault for 10 straight games and now he's on the 4th line.
Management undeservingly gave Danault the #1C spot. Mangement had a chance to do the right thing BEFORE Galchneyuk lost his confidence and became disinterested. Bergevin doesn't like Galchenyuk? Not a problem. But not even Joe Sakic is stupid enough to play Duchene on the 4th line.
I will say one last thing on the topic of coddling. Why coddle Galchenyuk? Because with some players you just HAVE to. That's why. Think about say Kovalev who might show up for every other game despite being the most skilled player on the planet. Do you really think that the best way to motivate him and get the most of him would be to play him on the 4th line? I don't want to make this a russian thing but russian people are a very proud people. You can't compare unskilled grinders who have made a career of putting on their work boots and will perform the exact same regardless of where they play. Skilled guys require more tact, finesse and ego stroking.
Think about kids. Sure yelling at them might get them to clean up their room this one time but it won't do a damn thing to turn them into mature responsible adults unless you explain to them the value of their actions. In the same way these jedi mind tricks will not work on Galchenyuk assuming they are not actually trying to turn him into a 4th liner instead of a 1st liner same way they tried to turn him into a center by playing on the wing.
This isn't about Drouin vs Galchenyuk but rather the way people will go out of their way to apologize for Drouin will simultaneously accept the mistreatment of Galchneyuk. I've said on numerous occasions that Galchenyk with Drouin could form one of the best lines in the league, with Alex at C and Drouin at RW. Could they succeed if their roles were reversed? I don't know but Tampa tried Drouin at center and it didn't work. Remember that Drouin just flatout refused to play when he disagreed with management and they were forced to trade him. Would Galchenyuk be better served if he manned up and just refused to play unless he were in the top 6? I mean if it was good for Drouin it should be good for Galchenyuk right?
