Montreal Canadiens Forward Alex Galchenyuk to Miss 6-8 Weeks
The Montreal Canadiens will be without their number one Center, Alex Galchenyuk for at least 6-8 weeks.
The Montreal Canadiens got some sad news today as they will be without Galchenyuk for almost two months with a knee injury. The Montreal Canadiens announced the bad news, and they also said that David Desharnais will be out for about the same time frame. The Canadiens will definitely miss Galchenyuk’s scoring prowess.
Alex was enjoying the best season of his career and was proving that he could be an elite number one Center. In Galchenyuk’s first 25 games this season he had scored 9 goals and totaled 23 points.
Galchenyuk had formed great chemistry with Alexander Radulov, and the Canadiens had recently moved Max Pacioretty to the top line as well. This could have become one of the Canadiens best scoring lines in recent years as all of these players skill level is so high. Also this trio of players style all complement each very well.
MEDICAL UPDATE: Alex Galchenyuk & David Desharnais (knee injuries) are expected to miss 6-8 weeks. DETAILS-> https://t.co/inFJXTdMKo pic.twitter.com/vBpzAmclls
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 7, 2016
Others Need to Step Up
The Canadiens have had many forwards play inconsistently over the first quarter of the season. Center Tomas Plekanec will now need to step up as the teams top center and start producing. Plekanec was able to score two points in the Canadiens 3-2 loss last night against the St. Louis Blues.
However, Plekanec has struggled mightily this season and he only has two goals all season long. Plekanec was once counted on, and expected to be a 50 point player. Tomas will need to improve his offensive touch in Galchenyuk’s absence.
Andrew Shaw could also see a more increased offensive role at Center because of Galchenyuk’s injury. Shaw has really played well over the past few weeks, except for a meltdown in Anaheim, and has been a terrific face off guy. Shaw should see more offensive zone ice time, and will probably spend more time at Center.
Trade to Fill the Void?
The Habs have been rumored to be interested in acquiring another top six forward for quite some time. Martin Hanzal has been a name that has been linked many times to the Canadiens and he also plays Center. Maybe now is the time that General Manager Marc Bergiven will try to make a trade to fill the void.
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