Why was Brendan Gallagher drafted so late?

[Wood Stick]

Just curious. I noticed he put up 40/40 in his draft year for second on his team in points. I get that he's 5'8.5 but isn't the worst skater in the world and has tons of grit.

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[stevo61]

Just curious. I noticed he put up 40/40 in his draft year for second on his team in points. I get that he's 5'8.5 but isn't the worst skater in the world and has tons of grit.

Sometimes you get a Gallagher/Gaudreau/ Atkinson and sometimes you get Brule/Boychuk. Small players really need an area where they excel but also adapt because they normally get by with skill at a young age but at the NHL the overall skill is much higher so they need to grow as players and make big adjustments. Its a chance more teams are willing to take these days but Brule is a perfect example of skill/grit who did not want to adapt or change his game at all and it hurt him big time

 

[ESH]

He's not that big, not that great of a skater, and isn't overwhelmingly skilled. Obviously he's turned into a pretty decent player, but that doesn't change the fact he had question marks as a prospect. It's very hard for small players to get drafted early, grit or not. His grittiness could have even been a red-flag for some teams, maybe they could have been worried about the potential for injury. It's hard to play gritty and tough in the NHL, especially when you're an undersized player, and I really commend Gallagher for being so good at what he does. But it's kind of like asking why Marchand or Gaudreau or Pavelski (or anyone who was drafted late) was drafted late. Because success as an NHL player doesn't somehow reverse how a player was thought of when they were younger.

 

[TT1]

Gallagher is the reason why all these smaller "gritty" players are starting to get picked higher, he started the smurf-fest.

6 years ago the NHL was still a "big mans league", it's always been a copycat league.. team's see Boston winning the cup with big/strong players so that's the type of players they draft.

 

[Gordoff]

He's a buddy of Milan Lucic. From what I read/heard Lucic went to Boston management a few times and tried to convince them to draft Gallagher but of course the dummy's that drafted for the Bruins back under the Chiarelli regime thought that they knew more than a guy who REALLY knew him. They would rather go for stiffs like Zac Hamill.

 

[Christ]

I heard that he kicked a puppy once when he was two...the shame of it has followed him around for his whole life...

 

[Gnashville]

Everyone thought he was related to this guy

 

[PB37]

He's a buddy of Milan Lucic. From what I read/heard Lucic went to Boston management a few times and tried to convince them to draft Gallagher but of course the dummy's that drafted for the Bruins back under the Chiarelli regime thought that they knew more than a guy who REALLY knew him. They would rather go for stiffs like Zac Hamill.

He did the same for Cunningham, who hasn't amounted to much of anything. Nobody knows how prospects will turn out.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

He's small and isn't gonna blow you away with any raw tools. That's a bad combination in terms of getting drafted. If he were 6'4, it'd be a different story and he'd be drafted earlier. Despite the trend being successful smaller players, GM'S stick to the tried and true( the giants).

 

[Peanut]

He's a buddy of Milan Lucic. From what I read/heard Lucic went to Boston management a few times and tried to convince them to draft Gallagher but of course the dummy's that drafted for the Bruins back under the Chiarelli regime thought that they knew more than a guy who REALLY knew him. They would rather go for stiffs like Zac Hamill.

Damn imagine Marchand and Gallagher on the same team playing Boston would be even more such a pain in the butt as it is already haha.

Thank you Chiarelli!

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

How many 5'9" junior forwards who only score a hair above a PPG in their draft year get picked high?

I'm gonna go zero.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

even when Don Hay named him to team Canada at WJC like 5 years ago I remember a lot of people were annoyed and said he didn't deserve to be there and it was only cause Don Hay loved how he played on his junior team. Many people even thought he shouldn't have been invited

And then during the tourney I remember he became a fan favorite amongst a lot of fans across Canada

 

[McFlyingV]

He did the same for Cunningham, who hasn't amounted to much of anything. Nobody knows how prospects will turn out.

Probably had a lot to do with the fact that Gallagher's dad has trained Lucic since his Vancouver Giants days and he probably got to know him when Gallagher moved to BC from Edmonton at the age of 12. Not exactly the easiest choice to make when there's an obvious personal bias. Gallagher was always a very talented hockey player even when he played minor hockey in Edmonton, but its hard to throw an early round pick at a guy like that when the majority of those type of players amount to nothing. And as another poster alluded to it was at a time when not many small guys were having a great deal of success in the league.

 

[Sarcastic]

GMs didn't feel like winning.

 

[Bieber fever]

He's small

 

[Kojo]

Size.

 

[rt]

When you are short and play a game most closely resembling something like a power forward, scouts will project that your skill set wit translate to the NHL level. They expect you'll be overwhelmed by the size and strength of NHL players, and your game will be mitigated, and rendered wholly ineffective. Usually scouts are right about that. Occasionally guys can come in and prove them wrong. Pat Verbeek and Theo Fleury are prime examples. Even Petr Prucha and Marek Svatos had some very successful seasons despite playing a big mans game in a little mans body. They eventually broke down. Hopefully that doesn't happen to Gallagher.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

He's a buddy of Milan Lucic. From what I read/heard Lucic went to Boston management a few times and tried to convince them to draft Gallagher but of course the dummy's that drafted for the Bruins back under the Chiarelli regime thought that they knew more than a guy who REALLY knew him. They would rather go for stiffs like Zac Hamill.

As much as I hate Boston, Marchand-Bergeron-Gallagher would've been an absolute treat to watch.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

His size and play style doesn't equate to long term effectiveness. Love the dude though.

 

[LeafFever]

Smaller players generally get taken later than they deserve.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

He's a smaller guy with a pretty limited set of offensive tools. Makes complete sense why he was drafted later.


He found a style that works well with what he can offer and has made it work in the NHL for himself. He developed really well but was definitely a gamble pick at the time, that paid off for the Habs in the end.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Why was Kucherov drafted so late? Why was Panarin not drafted at all? Just because.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Just curious. I noticed he put up 40/40 in his draft year for second on his team in points. I get that he's 5'8.5 but isn't the worst skater in the world and has tons of grit.

he is small--the pick was a gamble--people like second guessing these picks--but how many 5 foot guys with similiar stats have busted? a lot

 

[Juggernaut27]

He was a force in junior. Still my favourite Giant.

Size is part of it but he did not play the same sort of game back then, either. More skill and less bite. He was just as puck hungry and tenacious but the snarl wasn't as present. He was busy shovelling pucks into the net.

I can see why teams saw the size and figured they had better options in the middle rounds. Especially if they didn't have much other info. How the Canucks didn't draft him though is beyond me.