The 2015-16 Montreal Canadiens are an interesting case study. Once, not all that long ago, they looked like one of the strongest, if not the outright strongest, team in the NHL. But Carey Price's injury turned the season into a lost one and the team that couldn't lose suddenly can't seem to string more than one or two wins together. Habs GM Marc Bergevin has even made it clear - behind closed doors, according to a report - that the season is dead in the water and he's now planning for the future of the franchise. That makes the Canadiens very much a team to monitor ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Monday. But all that being said, don't expect anything crazy to come out of Montreal - well, nothing too crazy at least.
"[Alex} Galchenyuk's name is out there, but only in the sense of a wonder," TSN's Darren Dreger said Thursday, while appearing on Montreal's TSN 690, per Today's Slap Shot. Dreger went on to explain that Galchenyuk is a guy whose name has popped up in trade talks, but that there seems to be little substance to that chatter on both Montreal's end and for potentially interested parties. Sure, teams are interested, but there is consternation among the leagues' personnel men as to just what Galchenyuk is - a winger or a center - and whether or not he's had enough to really develop at either spot.
There were reports from earlier in the season that the floundering Canadiens could potentially be considering a deal involving Galchenyuk as they engaged in something of a self-discovery mission while watching the season slip away, but it now sounds like there's nothing but smoke there.
Per Dreger, the Habs are neither shopping, nor dangling the talented young forward. And really, there's no reason they should. No, he's not a finished product and yes, he's still an immature kid playing a man's game. But while this season may be a lost one, moving Galchenyuk - a guy with the talent to turn into an elite top-line player - would be the kind of knee-jerk deal that goes completely against Bergevin's normal operating procedure.
Now, would Bergevin have to consider it if a truly elite veteran, who could presumably take the Habs from pretty good to great starting with next season, were being offered? Yes. But that still doesn't mean it's worth doing.
Galchenyuk, still just 21, has already developed into a double digit-goal guy. This year, he's got 16 markers and 36 points through 61 games. By the end of the regular season, he very well could set a new career-high for goals, surpassing last season's total of 20. Every season since he's entered the league, Galchenyuk's production has increased.
He's a kid with a very bright NHL future being asked to shoulder a lot of the load for Michel Therrien's team. Some stability to his place in the Habs lineup would, presumably, only serve to expedite his development.
In the end, as Dreger notes, Galchenyuk likely isn't "untouchable," in the same way that Price or P.K. Subban is (probably). But moving him shouldn't be a decision undertaken lightly, and better provide a serious return, otherwise cracks very well may start to appear in Bergevin's, to this point, rock-steady standing with fans and ownership.
