Galchenyuk should have been used more this year. He should have also been given more opportunities at the center position.
Eller. Dude. There were clear progressions in his game under Martin. You could literally observe him improve his defensive aspect from game to game. All he seem to have done under Therrien is get bigger, which helps the game he already had. Therrien (and RC) always made life harder for Eller. He removes the linemates he's gotten accustomed to and produces with for the benefit of another center that, arguably, isn't even better??? And to you, that's him helping Eller? Even to this day, Eller is our most productive forward, almost a ppg player, and he gets no PP time?? You're going to have a very tough time coming up with arguments as to how Therrien deserves credit for Eller's game.
Shall we do the same for Bourque?? You want to credit Therrien for Bourque's performance in the PO? If you do that, shouldn't you also blame him for the poor season Bourque just had?
Subban, I mean really, crediting him for Subban's performance is like doing the same for Crosby and Malkin. You really think he played much of a role in it? They are superstars. They were going to become superstars regardless of their coaches. Doesn't mean Therrien didn't teach PK a thing. Even the worst coach can still teach certain things.
In some cases, I agree, you can't pick and choose. Like when DD looked like crap to start the year and couldn't produce despite having our best winger, PP time, easy minutes, then ya, it's certainly not on Therrien. When Emelin struggles, not on Therrien (although one could argue he's not used properly ; I'd have him as a LD 5-6). When Bourque disappears as he's often done, it's not on Therrien.
It's a case-by-case situation. Sometimes the coach is wrong, sometimes he's right, sometimes he's irrelevant.
All in all, I think Therrien is good at certain things, bad at others. Nothing revolutionary here, the same is true for everybody. The question is if the good outweighs the bad. I think this year, especially in the POs, it has.
However, moving forward, I would rather have someone else. The reason why is that I like coaches that are strong tacticians and teachers. You can hire any assistant to rally and motivate the guys, that's an easier task.
