If I'm Gallagher I never look these teammates in the eye again.
You wrote some facts that seems very true. I think Gally would need the Weber-Price treatment. Rest before PO and reduce ice time from time to time. He will be 30 but in his case he should be considered like he's 36. His contract is way to high, another mistake of Bergevin who act like a fan like you say. It's not a catastrophy but a bit of an anchor. Most teams have overpaid players and most gms make mistakes, except Tampa gm Brisebois.Bergevin's biggest flaw is that when it comes to contracts he acts like a fan. He's a fan of Price and Gally so he overpays them. neither one of them are ever going to earn their money. Price has taken this team as far as he is able. He'll never be this close again and after last night it's apparent that they don't have 4 more wins in them. He's in his mid-30's now so his game isn't going to improve. Bergevin is paying for a depreciating asset.
Gallagher is in many ways even worse. Price may be overpaid but he's an elite goaltender and a first ballot Hall of Famer. Gallagher is a guy who has Hall of Fame "try" but the results are Joe Average. He is grossly overpaid for what he brings. His 25-30 goal seasons are a thing of the past. He can barely skate well enough to be on an NHL roster now. He deserves credit for defying the odds and having a pretty good NHL career but it's over now. The style he plays doesn't lend itself to a long career even if he had size, which he doesn't. He's probably taken years off his life if we're being honest. But giving him that kind of money at this stage of his career is moronic. Gallagher has, at best, maybe 2 more years before he's completely washed up and the 2 years it's going to take to get to that point aren't going to be fun to watch. Perry and Staal look more spry than Gallagher. Maybe those are the linemates who Gallagher should be playing with now.
Good thing we aren't paying you $22.5 million for the next 6 years then.
1. Gallagher had an extreme terrible start of the season if you remember. He got injured mid + season and cameback ready for the playoffs , it's been over 5-6 weeks now , no way hes still on that injury. Also the legs were not his injury , dude has nothing in the tank anymore. Tonight he got absolutely destroyed by Tampa Bay and was completely out of him. at 4-1 Tampa he should have went back to the bench and chill and instead he dropped his head himself on the ice...
2- Pageau plays as 3rd center against best offensive lines. His defensive skills a bit lower than Danault but better than Lekhonen and he's way better at scoring goals even on a defensive line. He was PPG in points for a while. He was signed 5m before covid also.
3. Perhaps he was 95% but the more we are playing he went back healthy we also beat Winnipeg in 4 games and he was invisible on the ice. He had enough time to heal whatever he had left of injuries. The injury card in Montreal is just a terrible way to say that when he's playing poorly means hes injured. Gallagher has been playing like that for the last 2 years and last Bubble he was god atrocious also and was injured during the last game so can't blame the injuries . He's literally playing the same as before. If he was that injured he wouldn't be playing at 1 point your body can't just keep it up. Also Gallagher being an idiot most of the time and just ramming his head first into everything makes him more vulnerable for 0 positive reason , his IQ hockey is pretty low if you ask me. It's like he's asking to be injured. If you ask me the extension of 6.5m to play him on a third line is a poor decision. It was obvious that Caufield would have been in the top 6 next season and that Anderson would play a top 6 role after a trade and sign for 7 years. Bergevin just did an awful job with Gallagher , he went emotional once again and it bites him in the ass once again. He should have waited this offseason to see what other teams offers before making a bad decision and he didnt. Now we are stuck with him for 6 years. Unless Bergevin is fired before his extension kick in and a gm trades him right off which has 0.00001% chance to happen.
This line is not a offensive line anyway. Gally might be better for scoring but he doesn't skate like Danault and Lehkonen who can skate pretty fast 20 minutes a game. Gally can't skate with Suzuki, his best fit outside Danault would be with Perry, more or less 12 minutes a game. He is out of breath after 30 secs. I like him very much, a true warrior, a clutch scorer but he have his limits.
Definitely not for this franchise. We're going to end up losing youngsters for contracts like Josh Anderson lol9 million dollar player in 2024-2025 ouch i thought it was a typo on Capfriendly lol Berg. Oh well it’s all about emotions I guess. Enjoy the cinderella run, as they say they don’t come around often.
I agree. I think he's playing injured right now. Not his legs but something else slow him down with his stamina and speed. His shooting is weaker because of his recent hand injury. I don't like the hate bandwagon (on any player) and don't count on me to be a part of it.That's pretty much what I've been trying to say. Danault's line has been assigned to cover the opposing team's top lines. Anytime they score is just a nice bonus. Agreed, which is why he played well with Tatar. He didn't need to be as fast, and he didn't need to carry the puck as much as he does for this line. I agree with Suzuki, I don't think that's a good match. Due to the way he's playing now, whether it be injuries or not. Yes I agree, matching him with Staal and Perry would make for an interesting line. Even if Gally had to play on his off wing. When he's at 100%, I'd love to see him with KK, with Anderson on the LW. If he was previously always out of breath. I'd definitely be worried. As I've said though, I believe he's playing injured. So it's up to the coaching staff to see what's happening and make adjustments.
I agree. I think he's playing injured right now. Not his legs but something else slow him down with his stamina and speed. His shooting is weaker because of his recent hand injury. I don't like the hate bandwagon (on any player) and don't count on me to be a part of it.
Bergevin's biggest flaw is that when it comes to contracts he acts like a fan. He's a fan of Price and Gally so he overpays them. neither one of them are ever going to earn their money. Price has taken this team as far as he is able. He'll never be this close again and after last night it's apparent that they don't have 4 more wins in them. He's in his mid-30's now so his game isn't going to improve. Bergevin is paying for a depreciating asset.
Gallagher is in many ways even worse. Price may be overpaid but he's an elite goaltender and a first ballot Hall of Famer. Gallagher is a guy who has Hall of Fame "try" but the results are Joe Average. He is grossly overpaid for what he brings. His 25-30 goal seasons are a thing of the past. He can barely skate well enough to be on an NHL roster now. He deserves credit for defying the odds and having a pretty good NHL career but it's over now. The style he plays doesn't lend itself to a long career even if he had size, which he doesn't. He's probably taken years off his life if we're being honest. But giving him that kind of money at this stage of his career is moronic. Gallagher has, at best, maybe 2 more years before he's completely washed up and the 2 years it's going to take to get to that point aren't going to be fun to watch. Perry and Staal look more spry than Gallagher. Maybe those are the linemates who Gallagher should be playing with now.
This guy wouldnt get over 5.25 million if we didnt extend him. Big whoop, he gets under peoples skin, hows that worth 6.5? He cant score for shit in the playoffs.
Definitely not for the this franchise. We're going to end up losing youngsters for contracts like Josh Anderson lol
He may be hurt, he may be in a defensive role, but it doesn’t change the fact that he makes the dumbest plays and doesn’t seem to use his brain often. That turnover at the blue line trying to centre it to no one leading to a goal on the other end being pretty indicative of that. The easy play is to put it down deep against the Lightning. Just regular dumb plays by him.
Nope. His shooting is rubbish because he can only shoot from useless garbage angles.His shooting is weaker because of his recent hand injury.
He's having terrible playoffs. He just can't win a battle clean. Like, EVER. Everytime he gets a small edge in a one-on-one battle or gets out with the puck on his stick, he's easily countered right after by the guy he just beat. The other times he's just being knocked off the puck easily. He rarely gets opportunities in the blue paint anymore.
People have been overlooking his bad performances all playoffs long because we're in a cinderella run. But let's be honest for a second. He's one of the guys who has to step up and give more to the team if we want to win it all. Especially since he's not contributing much of anything if he's not winning battles and scoring. He's not a good defensive player. He's not wearing his opponents down. He's not making plays for his linemates. He's just filling a sweater. Oh and he bleeds. Going after a guy 1 foot taller than him after the whistle. Real clever.
He works hard. Gives his 110%. Goes to the net. He plays like a fighter... On the other side of the ledger, he doesn’t have a shot anymore and has lost a step.
I am less concerned with the money as I am with the term. Bergevin should have been able to see that Gally doesn't have 6 good years left in his body. He may not have 2 more. He is too small to play the style he plays but not talented enough to play any other way.Pre-covid, put him on the UFA market and see what happens. As I said before, I agree Gally is over paid. I'll say by 1 yr, 1 mil per season. Regardless of what you may think of him. Gally would get paid.
I don't know of any team that would give any goalie $10.5 million per. It's not how teams are built anymore. Only the Habs continue trying to win the 1995 Stanley Cup with big slow defensemen and a goalie. They're getting away with it to an extent in these playoffs because the Hudson Bay rules are in effect. But a team built this way doesn't even make the playoffs half the time. Even so, the Price contract should have been structured to either pay him big money for a short term or less money for a longer term, not max money at max term.The problem with this type of criticism is you're using the benefit of hindsight. Price could have easily maintained his form considering at the time he was winning awards no goalie had in a decade. Furthermore, could you imagine the backlash if Bergevin allowed Price to walk for literally nothing. People often forget it takes two to negotiate. With the sheer number of accolades Price accumulated by that point, he knew damn well his worth and if Montreal wasn't giving it to him several other teams would. And we'd be a basement dweller without him.
Gallagher is a bit different, though parts of the same argument apply. He shouldn't have gotten as lengthily a term but considering how absolutely beloved he is within the organization. He's someone you don't want to trade. Vancouver is a prime example of why locker room morale matters. Not to mention, you'll have difficulty attracting players if you refuse to reward their past efforts. Gallagher, much like Price, could have easily got his current contract in free agency. We also don't have an easy time getting players to sign here. Discouraging them certainly won't help. That isn't to say Gallagher's contract is necessarily good. I think it's more... average. He didn't take any discounts but he's been a warrior for this team.
Wasn't this the same narrative back a few years ago when he had his wrist issues? I think Gallagher rebounds but will have difficulty reaching 30 goals again and will be a target by some of our fans cause he is about $1M overpaid
He’s either injured or physically used up.
I am less concerned with the money as I am with the term. Bergevin should have been able to see that Gally doesn't have 6 good years left in his body. He may not have 2 more. He is too small to play the style he plays but not talented enough to play any other way.