Jul 5, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Brendan Gallagher Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
#1 – Brendan Gallagher
It might be weird to think that one of the most popular players that just signed a big contract could be a candidate for a big break out. But if there is anyone that is most impacted with this offseason, its Brendan Gallagher.
For the past couple of years, Gallagher has been tightly tied to linemates Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar. Danault asked for a big pay-day, and found it in Los Angeles to the tune of $5.5 million per year for 6 years. The writing was on the wall for Tomas Tatar, as he was scratched for most of the playoff run, including when Montreal struggled offensively in the Finals against Tampa Bay. The truth is that Tatar has always struggled to produce in the playoffs (6 goals and 12 points in 40 playoff games); good thing that he went to New Jersey, a team that shouldn’t threaten for the playoffs for a little while now.
When the line of Gallagher – Danault – Tatar was first put together, it was a line that dominated the game possession wise. They were up there with the Perfection Line in Boston as one of the best lines in the league in that regard. When that line was on the ice, the puck was on one of their sticks and in the offensive zone. And as the de facto top line on the Canadiens, they came up against the opponent’s best lines, and shut them down by dominating the puck.
But, the line started to make a slow shift away from possession hockey and towards a shutdown role. The line always shut down the opponent’s top lines, but also scored a ton of points while doing it. But Danault became the only centre that Montreal had that could consistently win faceoffs, and so this line got a lot more starts in the defensive zone.
And it shows up in the numbers. Gallagher posted two straight 30 goal seasons before his goal totals dipped to 22 in 2019-20 and 14 in 2020-21. Tatar followed up his two best seasons with a weak 10 goal effort this year. Danault was never an offensive player, but this last season was his worst offensively since his rookie year, with just 5 goals and 24 points.
This dip from all three players seemed like it was from a change in philosophy. Instead of stopping the opponent’s best lines by being fantastic offensively, this line began to just take an defensive role. And that does not exactly play into Gallagher’s offensive strengths.
Gallagher thrives on chaos in the offensive zone, perhaps now more than ever. Thanks to multiple hand and wrist injuries in the recent past, his shot is not as formidable as it once was, and he thrives when the play breaks down and the puck ends up in a scrum at the front of the net. That chaos is really formed by extended time in the offensive zone, wearing out the defenders and breaking down their defensive structures. Something that this line used to do fantastically, but got away from in recent years.
Now, it still is a bit of a mystery of who will play with who this year. The first line might be the only one set with Caufield – Suzuki – Toffoli playing together in the playoffs, but there are still some thinking that this line could be broken up. Montreal has a plentiful amount of quality wingers and only so many spots, but the truth is that unless Gallagher finds himself on a line with Jake Evans, he will be playing with a much more offensive center and will be given many more offensive looks this year.
The fear after signing a big contract, that the player will cash out and not play as well, but it is hard to see that happening to a heat-and-soul guy like Gallagher. While this contract will end while he is 35, and it might not be worth the $6.5 million, but look to Gallagher to have a bounce back offensively this year.