Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

[Miller Time]

People have short memory. This has happened over and over with Gally, remember. All the times people have said he's finished and he always bounce back to proves them wrong. Everytime it's the same damn thing, the same people calling him a bum will be cheering him when he plays the hero. I cannot believe the guy has been battling all his life to prove his worth. He battles to make plays and he battles for his reputation. Constantly.

The differences are his age and his salary/contract.

If he was making 3.5 and not turning 30 this season, the concern about his dismal start or that's he pacing 20g 40pts through his past full season equivalent wouldn't be as pronounced.

Perhaps you think he returns to 30g 50pt form, and maybe you even think he'll sustain that for at least a few of the years on his 6year extension....

It's off to a terrible start, and the age/style/cap hit are what they are... odd to pretend the context hasn't changed considerably

 

[Kimota]

The differences are his age and his salary/contract.

If he was making 3.5 and not turning 30 this season, the concern about his dismal start or that's he pacing 20g 40pts through his past full season equivalent wouldn't be as pronounced.

Perhaps you think he returns to 30g 50pt form, and maybe you even think he'll sustain that for at least a few of the years on his 6year extension....

It's off to a terrible start, and the age/style/cap hit are what they are... odd to pretend the context hasn't changed considerably

He scored 33 goals in 2019. 6 million is what he should be paid. Not to mention he brings other elements to the game. Then he scored 22 in only 59 games in 2020. Then 14 in 39 games last year. I'm not seeing a great decline. Give him 82 games. Sure he has a rough start this year but the whole team is in a slump. Again for whatever reasons people are ragging on him for no reasons. That's fine he'll prove them wrong again.

 

[Miller Time]

He scored 33 goals in 2019. 6 million is what he should be paid. Not to mention he brings other elements to the game. Then he scored 22 in only 59 games in 2020. Then 14 in 39 games last year. I'm not seeing a great decline. Give him 82 games. Sure he has a rough start this year but the whole team is in a slump. Again for whatever reasons people are ragging on him for no reasons. That's fine he'll prove them wrong again.

nonesense... Arvidsson scored more in 2019, "should" he also be getting 6Million?
What about Athanasiou?
Tyler Johnson?

What Gallagher scored in 2019 is completely irrelevant to wether or not he's a good value asset today.

Other elements? well, the intangibles certainly aren't helping the team perform well, and I guess we can agree to disagree about his impact defensively... average top-9 winger at best in that regard.

His last 82 games, he's been 20g 40pts. That's what it is. Will his next 82 games be better? Certainly could be... but where we sit today, he's on pace for a 14g/39 point season.

he's being paid to produce considerably better than that. To your point, he's being paid to be a 30 goal top-line winger... and for 5 more years after this one.

So, your point that i was commenting on remains curious... it's one thing to believe Gallagher will pick it up this year, i would agree with that take.

it's another to suggest that it's surprising that fans are concerned with his play and his contract... that is an obvious and understandable response to the teams highest paid winger performing and producing at average middle-6 level, especially while the team is struggling and needs it's "leaders" to be "leading"... which he has not been doing.

and it's still another thing to believe that Gallagher's performance is likely to do anything but continue to decline over time... that i disagree with. Even as one of his biggest fans (and someone who has regularly challenged those who doubted him out of juniors, of his ability to make the NHL, of his ability to be a 30 goal scorer), it's been evident since his rookie season that he was a player that would not enjoy a stellar "30's"... that style of play and how limited his skill set is, always pointed to a player that would decline rapidly if/when his body started to wear down and he couldn't play with the same intensity.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Not for nothing for the people reacting to Gallagher, but it really seems like people are attributing Gallagher's decline as general decline from wear and tear when a large part of it may just be that he's been one of the unluckiest players in the NHL this season.

Like, he's got zero 5v5 goals despite being one of the best 5v5 goal scorers in the NHL for years and is still generating chances among the best in the league. Like, he's got 0 5 on 5 goals on an expected 3.8 goals. Forget everything else, if Gallagher had a 17-6-5-11 stat-line (which is what we'd expect and right in line with his career norms), the complaints would be far less numerous.

Gallagher's decline defensively has been alarming and can't be explained away with how badly Montreal's roster is constructed or mental breakdowns, but its hard to know how much is attributable to Gallagher.

Like, on the long list of concerns with the Habs roster, I am baffled with how high people have Gallagher. This far from the only time Gallagher has gone cold for a stretch. People call him a scrub and 3rd liner and then he goes on s scoring bender and people calm down. The defensive play is a concern and he has been less effective overall, but a lot of the reactions to him aren't all that warranted.

We already knew this team wasn't likely to make the playoffs and most people on here are ready to take a longer view. So maybe calm down with attacking the guy that's driven the Habs 5 on 5 for so many seasons?

 

[ahmedou]

600th NHL Career Game

 

[ahmedou]

 

[Habs Halifax]

Remember when some fans were saying Danault is nothing without Gallagher? . The Danault hate over the last few seasons before we knew he needed a new contract is unreal!

Gallagher does not have the right center to play with anymore. Nobody we have fits him. Game is played fast and he needs a very good skating center who works hard. That was Danault and that's why that Tatar/Danault/Gallagher line worked so well. And fans wanted to rip it apart where they said Gallagher deserves to play with Suzuki

Lehkonen and Gallagher should be playing with Evans on the 3rd line. Said that heading into the season and I will say it again!

 

[HabsForHire]

Remember when some fans were saying Danault is nothing without Gallagher? . The Danault hate over the last few seasons before we knew he needed a new contract is unreal!

Gallagher does not have the right center to play with anymore. Nobody we have fits him.

Then adapt or GFTO

 

[Habs Halifax]

Then adapt or GFTO

Heading into the season, I wanted Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher as our 3rd line. Gallagher should get some PP time but on the 2nd unit. We gave him the contract so we own the right to place Gallagher where he fits best.

 

[LaP]

Gallagher always struck me as a guy who would have a short prime. His production comes from work ethic and attitude and not skills. Skills wise he really is a 20 goals 40 points guy. But his attitude and work ethic along with the experience of a middle of his 20ies men made him a 30 goals and 50 points guy for a while but it really was never meant to last for more than 3-4 years. I think this Gallagher is now gone now that he will be 30 soon. He could bounce back for one season but it's more likely that he settles as a 20 goals and 40 points guy moving forward unless he plays with a prime McJesus or Crosby type of center. I like the guy but this contract will sadly ****. If a team shows interest we should not hesitate to trade him.

 

[Habs Halifax]

He scored 33 goals in 2019. 6 million is what he should be paid. Not to mention he brings other elements to the game. Then he scored 22 in only 59 games in 2020. Then 14 in 39 games last year. I'm not seeing a great decline. Give him 82 games. Sure he has a rough start this year but the whole team is in a slump. Again for whatever reasons people are ragging on him for no reasons. That's fine he'll prove them wrong again.

It's not about decline. I agree there. It's about situational circumstance of who we have at center for him to play with. He and so many others are clearly struggling with our roster turnover up the middle. And without Weber, Eddy, Price on the back end, the ripple effects are severe and making guys like Petry and Gallagher look bad.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

View attachment 481509

I'm happy for Gally, but, damn looking at those stats, team sucks bad offensively since 2012.

Remember when some fans were saying Danault is nothing without Gallagher? . The Danault hate over the last few seasons before we knew he needed a new contract is unreal!

Gallagher does not have the right center to play with anymore. Nobody we have fits him. Game is played fast and he needs a very good skating center who works hard. That was Danault and that's why that Tatar/Danault/Gallagher line worked so well. And fans wanted to rip it apart where they said Gallagher deserves to play with Suzuki

Lehkonen and Gallagher should be playing with Evans on the 3rd line. Said that heading into the season and I will say it again!

I was one of them. To be fair, when Gally went down last year, both Danault and Tatar stopped producing, and Gally, since his beginnings, was always a spark plug on any line, so it was quite easy to point fingers at Danault, especially for what he supposedly wanted. And Gally, well, like Petry, seems like they're frustrated as hell, there's something rotten in that organization...

But, I'm eating crows.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm happy for Gally, but, damn looking at those stats, team sucks bad offensively since 2012.



I was one of them. To be fair, when Gally went down last year, both Danault and Tatar stopped producing, and Gally, since his beginnings, was always a spark plug on any line, so it was quite easy to point fingers at Danault, especially for what he supposedly wanted. And Gally, well, like Petry, seems like they're frustrated as hell, there's something rotten in that organization...

But, I'm eating crows.

It's all good. I just felt some were too hard on Danault. Both Danault and Gallagher busted their ass off each and every shift and they needed each other. Gallagher got credit for scoring goals and Danault got no credit for being the defensively responsible one who also causes disruptions with any line they face. We made a mistake letting Danault walk but we might be heading towards a rebuild and youth movement so it could be for the best. Danault would likely hurt our chances at having a bad defense

 

[Kimota]

It's not about decline. I agree there. It's about situational circumstance of who we have at center for him to play with. He and so many others are clearly struggling with our roster turnover up the middle. And without Weber, Eddy, Price on the back end, the ripple effects are severe and making guys like Petry and Gallagher look bad.

Whole thing is in shambles. Gally could be the useful feisty Hell raiser when all the pieces were in places. But now that everybody is gone, it's too much for him to take on his back.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I'm happy for Gally, but, damn looking at those stats, team sucks bad offensively since 2012.



I was one of them. To be fair, when Gally went down last year, both Danault and Tatar stopped producing, and Gally, since his beginnings, was always a spark plug on any line, so it was quite easy to point fingers at Danault, especially for what he supposedly wanted. And Gally, well, like Petry, seems like they're frustrated as hell, there's something rotten in that organization...

But, I'm eating crows.

There was a chimistry on that line, the Tatar-Danault-Gallagher. It was wrong pointing only Gallagher as the succces of that line. I could understand and it was explained long and large here uninamously because Gallagher was successful before Danault, etc, we all know that. But the reality was Danault was the starter of that engine (line). The face-offs of Danault is a BIG plus. In play-off time I was expecting more posters here to change their mind about Danault because he was far superior to Gally. He was the center most used by the Habs, he shut-down Matthews, Connors, Marchessault and won one game vs Point when the coach was able to match him with Point. Other posters from different teams said why you don't like Danault? And why you like so much Gallagher? He's done nothing in that play-off run. And Tatar wasn't there at all.

Danault doesn't pretend to be a #1 C. He fits in the 2nd or 3rd center range. Suzuki already proved he was 1 C material. They could complement each other, like Danault complement Gallagher and Tatar. In play offs Lehkonen took the place of Tatar. Danault filled the pass to Lehky in overtime to eliminate the Vegas Knights.

And here we are today, eating crows. Gallagher is totally lost without Danault. I think Hertl would have been a better replacement than Dvorak. But Danault was already here in our system. Why be so fussy about that extra ,5 and the long term? Other team knows it's shooting time vs Mtl. It's like in LaRonde, you shoot the little ducks and you win a teddy bear. Without Weber, Edmon, Price and Danault, they do whatever they want in Habs territory.

I could compare Danault replaced by Dvorak similar as replacing Markov by Alzner. That's bad comparable.

 

[BLONG7]

We can't score goals as a team..............Gally seem like he is always playing injured....
Gally has not hit any kind of stride at all, but it's not because his defensive specialist is off in LA guys...
We were an awful low scoring team with Danault/Gally/Tatar as our #1 line......how quickly everyone forgets.
Outside of a Cinderella run, we have been an awful hockey team for 5-6 seasons now............

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Whole thing is in shambles. Gally could be the useful feisty Hell raiser when all the pieces were in places. But now that everybody is gone, it's too much for him to take on his back.

He's lost. His extra energy won't change a thing. The entire team is broken except Nick Suzuki. Anderson, Toffoli, Caufield, Armia, Lehky and Drou are having a bad year too.
Gallagher should cool off a bit, accept he will be losing, relax on his "getting old" body and wait another year if a better center arrive.

 

[WinterLion]

Gallagher is a great player to have during a rebuild. I hope he stays. This year doesn't matter in terms of points... but it does matter that the young guys see how much battle Gally has.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

We can't score goals as a team..............Gally seem like he is always playing injured....
Gally has not hit any kind of stride at all, but it's not because his defensive specialist is off in LA guys...
We were an awful low scoring team with Danault/Gally/Tatar as our #1 line......how quickly everyone forgets.
Outside of a Cinderella run, we have been an awful hockey team for 5-6 seasons now............

Maybe that line didn't fit your criteria about a #1 line but it's a pretty decent #2 line, one of the best #2 line of the league.
Habs have material for a #1 line with Suz. You add Anderson and Toffoli, or Caufield and here you have a pretty good # 1 C.
THEN comes the second line :
Hoffman - Danault- Gallagher would have been a great second line.

At THIS moment Danault is having fun with Iafallo, Andersson and Athanasiou. Kop is #1 C, Danault is #2 C.

 

[Habano]

Imagine, people were laughing at Dubas for signing Nylander to 6.9 mil. a year. He did it right and signed the kid on the potential and upside.

Bergevin is too emotional to be a GM. Every time he has to talk about a player he likes, he starts crying. WTF kind of GM is that? Gally is getting paid for what he's done in the past. Our gm has no idea how to project a player's potential.

People are saying trade him. He is not tradeable at that price tag.

This might go down as one of the worst contracts of Burningbin's tenure, possibly even worse than Alzner's. Time will tell.

 

[Beige Van]

Gallagher is definitely overpaid, but if fat is to be trimmed from the cap for forwards, I'd rate Hoffman, Drouin, Armia, and Byron as players to jettison before Gallagher.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Gallagher is definitely overpaid, but if fat is to be trimmed from the cap for forwards, I'd rate Hoffman, Drouin, Armia, and Byron as players to jettison before Gallagher.

I would keep Hoffman. He's the only one on that list that score despite such a bad team.
Since Danault is gone, Gallagher is overpaid. Or wait another year if maybe a good #2 center comes in the team. Because Dvorak is 2021 version of Alzner.

 

[cphabs]

He looks done

 

[BLONG7]

Maybe that line didn't fit your criteria about a #1 line but it's a pretty decent #2 line, one of the best #2 line of the league.
Habs have material for a #1 line with Suz. You add Anderson and Toffoli, or Caufield and here you have a pretty good # 1 C.
THEN comes the second line :
Hoffman - Danault- Gallagher would have been a great second line.

At THIS moment Danault is having fun with Iafallo, Andersson and Athanasiou. Kop is #1 C, Danault is #2 C.

No one has ever argued Phil can be one of the best defensive shutdown guys, but as a 2C he does not produce enough to be in that category.
Not for 5.5M..............just my opinion.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

No one has ever argued Phil can be one of the best defensive shutdown guys, but as a 2C he does not produce enough to be in that category.
Not for 5.5M..............just my opinion.

That idea brings Habs replacing him by whatever Dvorak, Evans and Paquette.
Look at the results. What a mess.
Look at LA Kings now. Would you prefer a duo Gallagher-Dvorak of a duo Iafallo-Danault?
Phone LA Kings gm and ask him to trade Dvorak and Gallagher for Danault and Iafallo.

Now it's party time when they face Habs. No more defensive center, the Habs are shooting free territory. Party, party, shoot the puck in tha net! Shoot at the goalie as much as you want, Danault and all the defensive system is GONE !

So this is what you wanted and you're still agree with that?