Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

[Harry Kakalovich]

I’m what world is Anderson not a more desirable player than Gallagher while costing on average about 1 million less / year for the remainder of his contract?
I loved me some Gallagher since he started his career, but sadly he will never play up to his value ever again.
I would try to move him at the trade deadline if anyone is interested

I'm not sure why you quoted me.

 

[Harry Wong]

I'm not sure why you quoted me.

Me neither.

Gally has given his life for this team and to some extent has carried the team on his back.
He has had one sub par season with some injuries. So I don't get why he is done?
This guy has overcome adversity his whole career. Lets see if he earns MSL's trust.

It will be great news if one of our rookies takes his spot but I don't think that is likely.
IMO he should have this Board's appreciation and respect for who he is and what he has done in Montreal. If we want players to want to play in Montreal we should guard against talking about our players in such a disparaging manner.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Me neither.

Gally has given his life for this team and to some extent has carried the team on his back.
He has had one sub par season with some injuries. So I don't get why he is done?
This guy has overcome adversity his whole career. Lets see if he earns MSL's trust.

It will be great news if one of our rookies takes his spot but I don't think that is likely.
IMO he should have this Board's appreciation and respect for who he is and what he has done in Montreal. If we want players to want to play in Montreal we should guard against talking about our players in such a disparaging manner.

Gallagher didn’t just have one bad year. This goes back several seasons. He was poor the season before and during the extensive playoff run as well. Nobody doubts he’s a warrior, but with that comes millage. Especially for a runt that willingly takes as much punishment as he has. There’s genuine reasons to be terrified of Gallagher’s situation. At least right now.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Gallagher is finished. Accept it. There’s no “bouncing back” he’s never had any talent, and now he lost his speed. He’s done. 3rd or 4th line guy, and frankly he’s just taking a spot that a young player could fill.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Me neither.

Gally has given his life for this team and to some extent has carried the team on his back.
He has had one sub par season with some injuries. So I don't get why he is done?
This guy has overcome adversity his whole career. Lets see if he earns MSL's trust.

It will be great news if one of our rookies takes his spot but I don't think that is likely.
IMO he should have this Board's appreciation and respect for who he is and what he has done in Montreal. If we want players to want to play in Montreal we should guard against talking about our players in such a disparaging manner.

The Bergevin syndrome, get emotionally attached to players and give them big crazy contract that everyone else knows are huge mistakes.

“Appreciation and respect”? This is a business and we’re here playing arm chair GM.. for fun..

The truth is Gallagher is just a burden to the team now. If he cared about the fans and team he would do us a favour and retire.

You really think Gallagher gives a shit what we say about him? So many over emotional people here.

 

[Belial]

Gallagher is finished. Accept it. There’s no “bouncing back” he’s never had any talent, and now he lost his speed. He’s done. 3rd or 4th line guy, and frankly he’s just taking a spot that a young player could fill.

When exactly was Gallagher a good skater? He was average at best his entire career.

There's a reason he was drafted in the fifth round. Nothing about him screamed slam dunk NHLer.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

When exactly was Gallagher a good skater? He was average at best his entire career.

There's a reason he was drafted in the fifth round. Nothing about him screamed slam dunk NHLer.

He was never a good skater, actually a sub par one. He lost what ever speed he had, he’s got no vision, no shot, he’s got nothing really except a sad look on his face, he’s hard to watch. Honestly can’t wait for him to be gone, Price too.

Out with the old junk and in with the new.

 

[Belial]

He was never a good skater, actually a sub par one. He lost what ever speed he had, he’s got no vision, no shot, he’s got nothing really except a sad look on his face, he’s hard to watch. Honestly can’t wait for him to be gone, Price too.

Out with the old junk and in with the new.

Well, that was my point, he was never a good skater...

As long as he can take some more punishment in front of the net he'll be fine.

Definitely expecting a bounce-back season out of him.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Well, that was my point, he was never a good skater...

As long as he can take some more punishment in front of the net he'll be fine.

Definitely expecting a bounce-back season out of him.

Oufff I don’t see it at all. When will he even be in front of the net on the 4th line… no power play time because he’s literally talentless and can’t make a pass or shoot.

He used to be able to skate and keep up at least was my point.

 

[McGees]

 

[Tyson]

I will be surprised if he exceeds 15 goals this upcoming season.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

I am hoping he can bounce back like Dustin Brown did many years ago. The underlying numbers were good last year and he also had a super short summer which didn't help. I think a Pitlick Dvo and Gally line could work, they have similar abilities to the Danault line.

 

[Miller Time]

I will be surprised if he exceeds 15 goals this upcoming season.

Pace or total?

If he stays healthy, I'd be surprised if he doesn't surpass 20... But I doubt he'll stay healthy.

 

[FerrisRox]

Gallagher didn’t just have one bad year. This goes back several seasons. He was poor the season before

He was scoring at over a 30-goal pace the year before... The season before that he had over 20 goals and again was on a pace for over 30, the season before that, he scored 33 goals, the season before that, 31 goals. How can you sit here and claim it "goes back several seasons?"

What on earth are you talking about?

I will be surprised if he exceeds 15 goals this upcoming season.

I would be absolutely shocked if he didn't score 15 goals.

I would be amazed.

 

[Tyson]

He was scoring at over a 30-goal pace the year before... The season before that he had over 20 goals and again was on a pace for over 30, the season before that, he scored 33 goals, the season before that, 31 goals. How can you sit here and claim it "goes back several seasons?"

What on earth are you talking about?



I would be absolutely shocked if he didn't score 15 goals.

I would be amazed.

Well I will say about Gallagher is that he has always been a very average skater and that will only diminish.
I respect how successful he became with very limited abilities.
He exemplifies what "all heart" is but sadly that won't be enough as he ages and loses any remnants of quickness and speed.

 

[OldCraig71]

If there is one hab that needs to work with a skills coach it is Gallagher, it's amazing that he has been able to produce at the NHL level with limited skills. He is all heart and has sacrificed his body on almost every shift in the NHL. Imagine his level of desire paired with a body that Armia has.

 

[FerrisRox]

Well I will say about Gallagher is that he has always been a very average skater and that will only diminish.
I respect how successful he became with very limited abilities.
He exemplifies what "all heart" is but sadly that won't be enough as he ages and loses any remnants of quickness and speed.

On the contrary, I think the fact that his success was never linked to his foot speed is a plus, not a negative.

Luc Robitaille, for example, never lost a step as he got older because he never had a step to lose.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[FF de Mars]

Just watched it, did Knuckles just said he wishes Gallagher to wear the C? Anyhow it was a good interview, I'm among those who believe Gally will bounce back. He rehashed his "my body fell apart" narrative when Knuckles had the courage to ask him late in the interview. I think there is truth to that narrative. Gallagher was never an athlete, he didn't win the genetic lottery, got to the NHL through hard work. When you take away the time he needs to recover and train, you also take away his biggest advantage, hard work and gym ratness! That's why I think he'll bounce back. He talked about his first wrist injury, he recovered, changed his blade's angle and scored 30 goals the year after. At some point he also mentionned you don't lose you brain and it's the most important part of a hockey player. I'm feeling optimistic, let's hope his narrative reveals to be true.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

He mentions that because of the short summer + lack of time to train + recovering from injury, his body felt like he had played 60-70 games when they were only 15 games into the season.

I think Gally rebounds and scores 20-25 goals and ~45 pts next season.

 

[CDN24]

He is good for 30+ goals, so assuming the refs call back 40% of them based on reputation he should be in the 18-20 range.

Seriously this year will be telling, if he can bounce back it will be this year with benefit of a long offseason. Time will tell.

 

[Tyson]

A full off season to heal and train, I am starting to think 17+ goals.

 

[Ghetto Sangria]

The people thinking Gally is done are out to lunch. He rebuilds his body every offseason... he has to because of the beating it takes every season. When he has the chance to recover he bounces back.

Gally has been one of the most consistent 5v5 producers since he's been in the NHL, last year being the outlier. He's also consistently worn out by the time the playoffs roll around because his body gets beaten to a pulp by the time the POs start. Clearly, the same thing happened to him last season because he didn't have time to recover. It's like he had 2 busy seasons stacked into one.

Gally's the type of player that helps get you to the playoffs but then trails off. It's not for lack of effort, but just from his physical limitations. His ability to recover in the offseason is impressive though. He works hard at it... and that's exactly what he didn't get to do the last offseason.

I would be surprised if he doesn't hit the 20-goal mark, or doesn't score at a 20+ goal pace this year. If he scores 20-20 or more while playing important 5v5 minutes, his contract won't be too brutal. If he once again scores at a 30-goal pace like he's consistently done in the past, maybe he'll even still be worth his contract. I doubt that happens though because I think Marty is going to give other players more 5v5 opportunities than the likes of Therrien and Julien.

 

[jrom]

They mention his pee-wee tournament goal at the beginning, had never seen it and it's hilarious

 

[dcyhabs]

EOTP is ranking habs forwards. They are using iffy stats, and everyone stunk last year but they have Suzuki fifth for last season with Gallagher, Evans, Dvorak, and Lekhonen not yet rated.

It may just invalidate their methods but the way they compared stats Gallagher was fine relative to the terrible team last year.

The team is lacking key players. Everyone will look bad. No one comes out smelling pretty.