Didn't want to clutter up the Monahan thread with a discussion focused on Gallagher so I moved this here.
I'm aware of the contempt for Gallagher on these boards, but to question if it's a good idea that our youth are subjected to his habits is bewildering to me. His work effort is exemplary regardless of his effectiveness. He would still go through a wall for this team if his body allowed. Noone should question that he leads by example regardless of some of his mistakes.
To surmise being around such a player as a detriment doesn't wash for me.
So with the caveat being that nobody here is in the room or sees the day to day interactions that would actually be needed to say with any certainty whether he's good as a mentor, here's my reasoning on why I do question Gallagher as a good veteran influence.
He works hard not smart. So sure he'll go through a wall for the team, but if your going through walls on the regular then it's going to lead to injuries injuries and going 100% all the time means that when it comes time for the playoffs you have nothing left in the tank. And we see that with Gallagher, poor playoff performances compared to the regular season despite his style being the style that should have success in the playoffs, and lots of little injuries. MSL has even talked about some of what he's trying teach is that you shouldn't be skating 100% all the time, you have to read the play and pick your moments properly so you can actually catch the opponents flat footed.
Somewhat related is that because he's not a high IQ player he can't really help guys in that regard. A big part of any mentorship is talking with the young guys, and you see that all the time in the NHL, guys come back to the bench and talk about a play on the ice and how they want to react in the future. With Gallagher, he's got nothing to offer in that regards as he's very much a just shoot from anywhere and crash the net type player which yeah you need some of that, but compared to a Monahan who can actually offer thoughtful advice there's just no comparison to what's better for the young guys.
As his career has moved along he's gone from the happy go lucky kid whose loving every minute of being in the NHL to playing with a chip on his shoulder where he seems to care more about getting even and retaliating then in focusing on winning the game. It's always a grey zone since you do want/need a level of push back and standing up for yourself/teammates but I see a player whose simply gone too far in that direction. When your focus is more on what happens after the whistle then it is on what's happening between the whistles it's a problem. And we see this not only in the amount of penalties, but also the type of penalties he's taking, as well as his overall demeanor on the ice. He used to be a net positive in terms of penalties, so he'd get crosschecked and draw a penalty all the while having a smile on his face, whereas now every crosscheck against him has to be responded to with his own and ends up a net negative. It's simply not the attitude that makes for a good leader/mentor.
There's lots of little things that don't put Gallagher in a good light in terms of leadership. The fights he occasionally gets into with teammates at practice being just one example. Now I'd also point out there's a big difference between being beneficial to the young guys and being detrimental. I don't think Gallagher is really detrimental to the young guys, but I don't think he helps them much at all either. So if your looking for veteran leadership that actually helps the young guys then Gallagher just isn't it.