Montreal Canadiens: What a difference four months makes
By Omar L
Alex Galchenyuk is another year older, but the growth he’s had since the beginning of the season with the Montreal Canadiens has been remarkable.
Every player on the Montreal Canadiens had expectations going into this season. You could argue that despite Jonathan Drouin was the new guy in town, Alex Galchenyuk had the most focus. Injuries kept the young forward from reaching the level of play he was at before going down, and because of it, he quickly fell out of Claude Julien‘s favour.
Not only was Galchenyuk expected to exceed his 17 goal and 27 assist total, but his overall play as well. His commitment to working away from the puck was what was keeping him away from the middle of the ice in the eyes of Julien and Marc Bergevin.
Galchenyuk started the year on a line with Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw and he couldn’t look anymore invisible. The only time you noticed him was when he was making a costly mistake or turning the puck over in the defensive zone.
That led to Julien gluing Galchenyuk to the bench at times and going as far to playing him on the fourth line. It wasn’t too bad, especially when Michael McCarron and Nikita Scherbak were first up, and you could tell that it was a tactic to get him on the ice with lower capable players. However, the mistakes continued to pile up. Now it’s different.
Galchenyuk turned 24 yesterday (Happy Belated!), but that’s not the only thing that has changed. He’s a staple on Drouin’s left side and the two have formed some nice chemistry as the season has gone on. Additionally, Galchenyuk is more dynamic on both ends of the ice. His confidence is at an all-time high and he is more aware of the things going on around him.
Julien on Galchenyuk: "I think there's a lot of improvement in his game...I'm seeing a guy who's really putting an effort to be a little more complete." #TSN690
— Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) February 12, 2018
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With 12 goals and 30 assists, the 24-year-old hasn’t reached his expectations offensively yet. However, that total is second on the Habs which speaks to the turnaround.
As Julien mentioned in the quote, Galchenyuk is taking the further steps to becoming a complete player. There isn’t an excess of positives from this season, but if the 2012 first round pick can continue to grow and bring it to the team next year, he may reach those expectations a lot of us had.
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