Montreal Canadiens: Alex Galchenyuk Can Score 30 Again
By Omar L
Montreal Canadiens star Alex Galchenyuk scored 30 goals once, if he has a healthy season, there’s no reason why he couldn’t do it again.
The 2015-2016 season didn’t go as planned for the Montreal Canadiens. They started out very hot winning their first nine games of the season. Everything was looking good, until Carey Price got injured. The Habs went on a free fall that season and ended up being a lottery team. Despite all that, there were a few positive things from that year. One of which being Alex Galchenyuk‘s performance.
The 2013 third overall pick reached an impressive milestone that year by scoring 30 goals. He made history being the third youngest Canadiens forward to score that much. The other two were Bernie Geoffrion and Stephane Richer.
It’s not like as if it was anything extraordinary either. His shooting percentage that season was 14.9% which isn’t that high. Galchenyuk spend most of that season in between Max Pacioretty and a variety of right-wingers. Sometimes Paul Byron and other times Brendan Gallagher (when he was healthy). It’s safe to say that the expectations around Galchenyuk for the following season were high.
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The 2016-2017 season didn’t go as well for the 23-year-old. He had a pretty good start to the season, but was derailed by injuries. Galchenyuk missed 21 games dealing with an initial knee injury and its aggravation.
Despite coming back into the line-up and having a new coach to deal with, Galchenyuk’s level of play never got back to where it was at the beginning of the season. He finished the season with 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points. Galchenyuk took 97 less shots than the year before which explains the higher shooting percentage (16.3%).
Can He Do It Again?
Galchenyuk scoring 30 wasn’t by chance. It wasn’t a flash in the pan, he is a 30-goal-scorer in this league. Whether or not he’ll be able to do it again depends on a few things.
Firstly, health. This is the most obvious factor, but the effect that knee injury had on Galchenyuk was huge. Even after being cleared to play, it still took a toll on him. Unfortunately, that cost him brownie points with the Claude Julien and moved him back on the wing at times. It would be very surprising if Habs’ management gave up on the idea of Galchenyuk being a center after last season.
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Secondly, position. This was touched on earlier, but it’s easy to see that Galchenyuk plays better when he’s playing down the middle. When you play center, you’re generally the one who has the puck most on the ice. Habs fans will be the first to tell you that the puck on Galchenyuk’s stick is the best place for it to be.
Galchenyuk and Pacioretty were a pretty good dynamic during that 30-goal season. The possibility of adding Jonathan Drouin to that line would be scary for the rest of the league. Not to mention, a line like that would see a lot of time in the offensive zone with high quality scoring chances.
It’s been difficult for Galchenyuk to prove himself so far in his career. However, with the right circumstances, 30 goals can be a reality again for the young center.
Do you think Galchenyuk’s 30-goal season was a fluke? Can he do it again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!