Habs Camp: Eller Plays LW With Galchenyuk at C

Habs Camp: Eller Plays LW With Galchenyuk at C, What Does It Mean for Desharnais?

There are moments when you start to believe some people have altered course in a significant way. For the Habs, this is one of them. To be fair, this is a very early time of the camp and pre-season and anything can happen. But, it seems that changes to the forward line combinations are abound with a major impact on how the line combinations will wind up when the season opens.

With the likely aim being to keep Tomas Plekanec playing between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, the Habs have united what could be their second line heading into the season as follows:

LW Lars Eller (6’2″ 210 lbs) – C Alex Galchenyuk (6’1″ 210 lbs) – RW Alexander Semin (6’2″ 210 lbs)

Or, what we could coin the E-G-S line.

What’s interesting about this line is it’s size, speed, and overall ability to bring both a physical game and skill game to the table. None of these guys are exactly known as tough guys, but all can play a strong forecheck and get dirty along the boards.

Here’s a short line of how this impacts the team overall, should the line remain together:

• Eller can replace Galchenyuk if and when he gets thrown out of the face-off circle, making them stronger on the possession front;
• If Galchenyuk struggles in his transition to C, they can always decide to swap him and Eller and keep the line together;
• Eller can still play on the Penalty Kill;
• There’s a chance that this meansDavid Desharnais will C between Zack Kassian and another player, possibly Dale Weise, Devante Smith-Pelly orTomas Fleischmann if he should make the team;
• There’s a possibility that there will eventually be a swap between Semin and Gallagher, as the EGG line could be reunited, only with Galchenyuk manning C instead of LW; and
• With two guys that have great shots playing alongside him, it’s easy to estimate that Lars Eller is looking at an offensive boon and could be a great sleeper pick in fantasy leagues.

There’s no telling how long this line will remain together but I love the fact that the players and management were both willing to give it a shot. It’s been a long time since the Habs have put such a sizeable and yet skilled line together. If successful, they could take a lot of pressure off the first line and potential help fix some of the PP woes the Habs have encountered.

We already have a good idea of who is likely going to be on the 3rd and 4th lines, but there’s always a chance that a few rookies break in and steal some spots going forward. Some trades are possible to tweak those lines as well. I anticipate some pretty feisty battles for the last 6 forward spots, with competition always being a positive thing in camp.

In short, there are no negatives here, only positives. The Habs have a new Captain in Max Pacioretty, they have a new Assistant Captain in Brendan Gallagher, and the lines are getting sorted out with some great potential.

Camp has been interesting to say the least, let’s hope it keeps up being so positive!