I don't know. I watch a ton of Habs games and watched him dominant at center two seasons ago before he messed up his knee. I was baffled why he never got another look at C upon his return, particularly considering the other options they tried instead - guys like Paul Byron, Charles Hudon, JDLR. It's not like Galchenyuk would have been any worse. I suspect Claude Julien is a very stubborn coach where he's looking for perfect two-way centers. The Athletic had a piece that said Galchenyuk never went back to center because if he did and succeeded, both Bergevin and Julien would have egg on their faces. I hope for Montreal's sake that's not how they manage their roster. I'm pretty confident Galchenyuk will stay at center this season. Hell, look how long Tocchet played Domi at center.
Excellent post, that really got me thinking and I'm gonna ramble a bit and go off topic - read, or Doan read - y'all's choice.
This post got me thinking about how much more discipline is required of today's player than decades ago and questioning if that discipline is what's best for the game, or not.
The rigid structure/systems that Players have been expected to adhere to can certainly stiffle offensive creativity and output. It can also lead to decisions made from a battle of wills, or stubbornness, that originally derived from a negative read of what a given player can't/won't do vs identifying the positive of what he can/will do.
Way back when a player named Gary Unger had what I would deem a highly successful NHL career, despite not being known for his defensive prowess. This man played for years and was a long time reigning NHL iron man, that put up impressive numbers. I can tell you first hand - Gary was capable of playing solid D, the question becomes could he have put up his numbers and still done so? Would he have had the honor of raising the Cup had he played more/better D? He was definitely an entertaining player to watch either way.
I think the situation is like a pendulum, in that the answer lies(as it usually does) somewhere in the middle. I also see times a changing and creativity being allowed to flourish a bit more. Rigid defensive structure is the great equalizer, that not only makes it harder on the offensive minded player/opponent by its very nature, but adhering to it takes away from those same players by taking energy away during every shift.
It's the evolution of the game and while I often pine for the old less structured days, I believe the game is getting better and that "structure" is being coach a bit more than rigid "systems". If that makes any sense at all.
Either way, I'm extremely excited to see how this pans out for Galchenyuk and the Coyotes. Will RT give him an honest shot? Does our structure/system by its very nature allow a player like Alex to flourish because we exit our zone quicker. Will RT overlook any defensive shortcoming because the offensive production out weighs them? Will Alex knuckle down and play better D if required?
I do think he ran into stubbornness in Montreal, but there is always two sides to the story.