Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

[durojean]

I'm starting to really question all this Gallagher leadership fake news. Does the guy have heart? Yes, but a leader? I'm really not believing that any more. Where has he been all year to stand up to the floaters like Petry, Drouin and Hoffman? Not to mention his rather diva comment about rebuilding. Even the years prior, he was part of those yearly 8-10 game losing streaks...and disappears in the playoffs.

Again, i'll never deny his heart and courage - the guy gave and gives everything he has. There's leading by example, but you also have to challenge your teammates to be better and take guys under your wing and i just don't think he does that.

There is no way to know his attitude in the locker room. But even the bests leader could be overrun by a bad ambiance and bad coaching and bad apples. Good leadership is done with more than one people. One thing I do know, is that I trust Saint-Louis to know if a guy is a bad apple in the locker room and if Gallagher is really not the leader that he seems to be, There is more chances to see him go.

If he's got the good attitude, stay positive and follow the lines of the coach. I think he'll stay. His value with his contract must lesser than his value to the team anyway and if we want to build something, we need pillar blocks to support our construction. Not talent wise, but attitude and leadership wise.

The question is : does he fit that description. Can he still improve ?

In the mean time, we do not need his cap space for anyone for the moment so it all depends on what he does bring to the team.

 

[lamp9post]

If you can retain 25% of his contract you will be able to move him. Never underestimate the value and respect GMs have for someone eho can score 30 goals (in the right setting) who works hard and goes to the dangerous areas as well as have leadership qualities.

It is more about the financial aspect than the hockey aspect that matters with Gallagher

It's both. And lets not pretend that the financial aspect isn't a major factor, prohibitive even.

There has to be at least 1 GM out there who still values him. If he was making 3-4 million we would not be having this discussion.

I would be more worried about being able to move Price than him.

But he's not making 3-4 million. That's the problem and that's reality. No point in glossing over the most glaring factor.

Danault is younger and cheaper and is a better PK than Gallahger is a PP guy.

I agree. Most importantly, Danault has a clear role. Gally is a fine 2-way ES winger, but he's bad on special teams and you don't want to play him in overtime 3-on-3. If his days of scoring 25+ goals are over, he doesn't bring a whole lot to the table.

 

[DAChampion]

I'll be honest. I'm much more worried about Gallagher than I am with Petry. Gallagher has lost a lot of foot speed and energy. Can he rebound? Possibly yes but with what center? He's not skilled enough to play with Suzuki. Dvorak is not fast enough to cover Gallagher skating like Danault was.

Hope I'm wrong but Gallagher stands to be our worse contract and might be Gomez round two. People talk about decline at 30+ all the time but the area they don't look at is why they are declining? It has a lot to do with mileage and how their skating takes a noise dive.

Gallagher has been down before so I'm hoping this off season does wonders! Cross your fingers cause I think he will be very difficult to move with that term and AAV.

I think the best fit for Gallagher is with Poehling and Lehkonen.

Gomez declined because lost his skating speed and he got lazy. He didn't work as hard to go into the corners.

Gallagher may have lost motivation, but he's also had multiple injuries in his arms and hands.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I agree. Most importantly, Danault has a clear role. Gally is a fine 2-way ES winger, but he's bad on special teams and you don't want to play him in overtime 3-on-3. If his days of scoring 25+ goals are over, he doesn't bring a whole lot to the table.

Funny to remember how Danault was bashed over and over. There were members here bashing Danault on a daily basis, some of them are not posting here anymore, I call them trolls and they were accepted by mods. Funny to see that Danault clearly fits perfectly with the LA Kings and Gallagher looks like an orphan without his center. Tatar spoke about how he was part of a good trio with Dan and Gally over 3 years and all this has been dismantle by Bergevin, with the applause of 85% of the Habs fans of this board. Very funny indeed. I remember I was alone defending Phil, hahaha, today I can laught and laught and laught. Too bad and I feel sad for Gallagher. I hope this little warrior who played without compromise will find a good spot somewhere else, I hope he will find another center in another team. I liked the energy he gave for us for so many years, he was the real CH player bleeding for us fans but the majority of the members here wanted his center to leave and a lot of members still don't understand Danault was so usefull for us. Now we suck and it's well deserved. Viva Dvorak the cheaper Danault replacement, lol, what a joke, vica Evans, re-lol again, viva the commitee, lol again. Long live the success of Danault in California Kings in LA.

 

[MadMslm]

Other than injuries, speed issues and questionable skills, big part of Gallagher’s problems are due to his stubbornness with zone entries while carrying the puck.

He never had a great shot arsenal, or was never a good playmaker. Every time he gets in the zone it’s from the boards (never middle of the ice) and it’s either deflected shot or an impossible angle.

When he can’t get a shot off, it’s the usual throw the puck on the board and lose my race to it in the corner.

He needs to stop carrying the puck. Give him someone who will gain the zone, and tell his ass to go to the net. That’s the only way he will ever be effective again, if its not around the net he won’t be able to produce. It’s crazy how you never see him there anymore (other than after the whistle).

 

[Clumsyhab]

At this point of his career, I think we would be lucky he averages 20g - 15a per season for the rest of his contract.

20g-15a is his production in his last 85 games including last year plafoffs.

Reallistically, since he's on a decline and since he would rarely play a full season, I think we should expect 10-15 goals at best in a season.

Please trade him ASAP if anyone still wants him.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Funny to remember how Danault was bashed over and over. There were members here bashing Danault on a daily basis, some of them are not posting here anymore, I call them trolls and they were accepted by mods. Funny to see that Danault clearly fits perfectly with the LA Kings and Gallagher looks like an orphan without his center. Tatar spoke about how he was part of a good trio with Dan and Gally over 3 years and all this has been dismantle by Bergevin, with the applause of 85% of the Habs fans of this board. Very funny indeed. I remember I was alone defending Phil, hahaha, today I can laught and laught and laught. Too bad and I feel sad for Gallagher. I hope this little warrior who played without compromise will find a good spot somewhere else, I hope he will find another center in another team. I liked the energy he gave for us for so many years, he was the real CH player bleeding for us fans but the majority of the members here wanted his center to leave and a lot of members still don't understand Danault was so usefull for us. Now we suck and it's well deserved. Viva Dvorak the cheaper Danault replacement, lol, what a joke, vica Evans, re-lol again, viva the commitee, lol again. Long live the success of Danault in California Kings in LA.

You were not alone defending Danault. I know I did.

I never thought he would get that much on the open market though, so good for him. It seems usually to be a theme with our local players. They are very appreciated at the beginning and then fans turn on then slowly but surely and it becomes unbearable. I have seen this same scenario happen all the time with many of our players.

It seems like for some people every local players are only playing with the Habs because they speak french otherwise they would be in the minor or in Europe. Which is bogus, but it is a theme even some fans believe it's the same for our Coaches/GM.

 

[Habano]

I've been saying it for almost 3 years, I said it before the season started and, I'll say it again, he's done.

I don't know how Bergevin decided to sign him to that contract when most of us, with no NHL management experience, saw the writing on the wall.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Gallys on a Bengals bender right now, we’ve gotta cut him some slack

 

[Wats]

He's basically a Coleman/Hyman now minus size. Hopefully next season Habs can boost his value.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Gomez declined because lost his skating speed and he got lazy. He didn't work as hard to go into the corners.

Gallagher may have lost motivation, but he's also had multiple injuries in his arms and hands.

Gallagher was never an elite skater but his tempo and energy was very high. He's clearly not the same player this year.
* Is it due to mileage (started full time at age 20)?
* Is it due to how bad of a season we are having and he's uninspired?
* Is it due to injuries catching up to him?
* Is it due to him approaching 30?

Don't know but something is off. If he has another bad season like this next year, we have a very bad anchor contract. One area I am concerned about is his skating. Love Gallagher but paying people in 29/30+ years for what they did in their 20's does not work more times than it does!

Gomez lost his skating and yeah, he got lazy. No two situations are exactly the same but if Gallagher don't rebound, we have a problem. I'm way more concerned about Gallagher than I am with Petry. Petry is still a great skater at his age.

 

[Sorinth]

It's worth mentioning Gallagher's contract is fairly buyout friendly. So you might as well write this season off, and give him another year or two just to see if he can get his game back on track. Plenty of players have struggled, and then bounced back when everyone thought they were finished. I still remember Teemu Selanne having a dreadful year in Colorado and everyone saying he lost his speed and was done as a player only to come back with back to back 90 point seasons and play well for many years. So long as attitude wise he is going out there working hard and isn't a dressing room problem then there's no harm in being patient with him because you can always buy him out later and we don't need the money while rebuilding.

 

[TannedBum]

I still remember Teemu Selanne having a dreadful year in Colorado and everyone saying he lost his speed and was done as a player only to come back with back to back 90 point seasons and play well for many years.

Some surgeon was able to fix Teemu's knee completely. That's the reason. You could fix Gallagher's every joint and he's still not a very good hockey player. Never was.

 

[Sorinth]

Some surgeon was able to fix Teemu's knee completely. That's the reason. You could fix Gallagher's every joint and he's still not a very good hockey player. Never was.

Depends on your definition of good. But what's your point exactly, that even if Gallagher gets back to his 50-60 point production we should get rid of him for nothing?

 

[CAUFIELD]

Gallagher indeed took a step back this year.

but the off-season was really short. And he got injured.

I think after a long offseason of healing and training, Gally can bounce back next year.

 

[WickedPegJets]

Gally is an old war horse ready to be put out to pasture. His body is like a train derailment. His contract extension is Bergevin’s worst.

Even if Kent Hughes ate half of the $6.5 M for the next 5.4 seasons, a few teams will bite.

 

[WickedPegJets]

At 5 he is a typical over paid vet, who just happens to now have some injuries. Oh boy I didn't know about his actual salary either. That is going to be a tough pill to swallow. When we signed him instead of trading him at the deadline(esp with his multiple hand injuries for our "shooter" LOL) I knew it would bite us in the ass. And this happened before his last season that he already looked cooked. If MB had at least waited till after december he might have pulled his head out of his butt and signed him to 5.5 or something more reasonable.

I don't even like his supposed leadership skills. I am not a hater per say but I haven't been happy with gally for 2 years and was looking forward to moving him for good asset management. We used up his best years, esp as a shorter guy(I am one too so I know) with injuries and a reputation around the league for whining and cheap shots. Its one thing if you are uber talented scorey perry and want to play dirty while being 6'2" its another when you should have this as your helmet. Notice he is 'dirty'

A whiny cheap shot artist isn’t captain material for Les Canadiens. Make Nick Suzuki the next captain.

 

[Sorinth]

Gally is an old war horse ready to be put out to pasture. His body is like a train derailment. His contract extension is Bergevin’s worst.

Even if Kent Hughes ate half of the $6.5 M for the next 5.4 seasons, a few teams will bite.

Remember a few years back when Ovechkin only scored 33 goals and people were saying his style of play was wearing him down and he'd only get worse, Pepperidge Farms remembers. Or for a Habs take remember during the summer when Bergevin took over and people said that Markov would either not play another game or at best be a bottom pairing PP specialist because with his knees he'd not be able to skate anymore.

Look it's for sure a possibility that Gally can't handle the grind of the NHL anymore and is finished. And yes teams aren't likely to take on his contract because of that risk. Which is why we might as well keep Gallagher around both this season and next season. After that if he still sucking then buy him out in '23. Gally doesn't have a Price-like contract that makes a buyout pointless, it's actually quite buyout friendly.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

He's worked hard for us, hell of a work horse , time to put old boy down

 

[Ezpz]

Gotta trade him. Almost the same stat line as Caufield on the season.

 

[David Suzuki]

Thought he played well today fwiw. Not sure why people are using stat lines under D*charme to justify anything about any player. I think the entire last year (the good and the bad) should be viewed with some suspicion.

 

[Miller Time]

He's worked hard for us, hell of a work horse , time to put old boy down

Gotta wonder if/when they will shut him down for the season...

Gotta hope its a nagging injury at this point. Regression was inevitable, but how bad he's been this season seems like it must be something more than just wear and tear catching up...

 

[MilesNewton]

I would trade him

 

[26Mats]

Some surgeon was able to fix Teemu's knee completely. That's the reason. You could fix Gallagher's every joint and he's still not a very good hockey player. Never was.

He had run of seasons where he was among a few wingers in the league that had as many goals as he did... he was great. The proble with that is the key word is was.

And what's up with Armia this year?

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

He had run of seasons where he was among a few wingers in the league that had as many goals as he did... he was great. The proble with that is the key word is was.

And what's up with Armia this year?

Look at Armia's career , he's always been like that. He's a 4th liner. He had years in Montreal wih 17min + with pp time and never managed to get above 30 points. Now he plays where he belongs and it shows how bad the contract is.