In hindsight, should Galchenyuk have started off at C in the OHL/AHL?

[Price is Wright]

Unfortunately what's done is done and instead of Galchenyuk being the #1 center we drafted for, we have a 2nd line winger because, from a development stand point the organization screwed up. ...

He was a point per game centre not too long ago and played terrible after returning from injury. How does that drop him to second line winger?

If he plays left wing he's only #2 because of Pacioretty. Otherwise he's a first line calibre player. If he plays right wing he's the #1 on the team and first line calibre. If he plays centre, he's the best offensive centre on the team. But the team has found a new shiny toy so he's moved aside.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Unfortunately what's done is done and instead of Galchenyuk being the #1 center we drafted for, we have a 2nd line winger because, from a development stand point the organization screwed up. ... we're looking at what year 6 for Galchenyuk ... MT favoured DD over Galchenyuk on the first line, when DD wasn't living up to the role. Asking about Pleks is ridiculous because they fill different roles, and always have. Pleks has been the shut down centre (Even when he was putting up good numbers) for a decade. That not Galchenyuk's role, now or ever.

Who knows what would have happened if Galch had a year at C in junior ... he certainly would have dominated .... but would that have tranlated to the NHL .... none of that has anything to do with Pleks

Galchenyuk isn't a #1 C because he hasn't improved his skating, his defense and he misses the net on 3/4 of his shots.

Yeah, he's been jerked around with his positions but he still hasn't shown improvements in his game. He could stick handle without moving his feet in juniors and make plays, but that won't work in the NHL.

The blame goes both ways, it isn't just because of coaching that he's in the position he is now.

 

[Sorinth]

Plekanec and Eller too.

MB and MT were condemned to make the Playoffs in that shortened season. Not to groom a raw rookie out of OHL. Galchy did very well on LW with Eller and Gally. they decided to keep it that way.

Galchenyuk - Eller - Gallagher played together for all of 4 games in 2012-2013 for a total of 42 minutes.
http://www.cs.unb.ca/~mwf/habs/2012-13/regseason/season.html

Game 1 they had Galchenyuk on Plekanec's wing, after that they played him at center on the 3rd line with Prust and Gallagher. That line was actually killing it, they were producing great and because they were sheltered they were fine defensively.

That's actually how they should have left it. Galchenyuk on the 3rd line, in a sheltered role. Eller was breaking out offensively on the 4th line (Similar to Danault last season) and so deserved a shot to see what he could do, Plekanec was playing well but Desharnais was struggling. They should have right then and there gone with Plekanec-Eller-Galchenyuk down the middle. Instead they rearranged everything to try and get Desharnais going and gave him a mid-season extension despite his struggles.

It was only in 2013-2014 when the EGG line played a significant time together, and the same thing happened, Desharnais was struggling so the whole lineup was rearranged to get him going.


The number one reason Galchenyuk wasn't used at center is because Therrien thought Desharnais was one of the teams best offensive players, and he couldn't shelter both Desharnais and Galchenyuk and he went with Desharnais. We are likely seeing the same thing again this year with Julien, he doesn't want both Drouin and Galchenyuk at center and he's going with Drouin instead of Galchenyuk. Hopefully it will turn out better then it did with Desharnais.

 

[Habs100]

If every somebody says that coaching doesn't matter, Galchenyuk will always be top of mind. I just hate how we stunted this guy. He could've been a mid tier first line center at least.

Your post makes it sound like Galchenyuk's development is over.

The guy is coming off a 30 goal season two years ago and was the best forward on the best team in the league before he got injured, and top 10 in league scoring if memory serves me correctly. He's far from finished.

The question now is, should he be developed at center starting now? The past is the past. And if you think he should, then the blame is Julien/Bergevin, not Therrien/Desharnais.

Is it possible to start a new poll question: Should Galchenyuk be playing center right now?

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Galchenyuk wasn't a good enough C to play that position in junior hockey. It was clear from that point he wasn't going to be a C. His strengths scream winger.