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Canadiens will start Galchenyuk on wing, experiment with Drouin at center

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Minas Panagiotakis

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin met with the Montreal media on Monday morning and offered a look his team’s lineup could take shape this season.

The big question that always seems to be on the mind of Canadiens fans these days is what the team plans to do with talented forward Alex Galchenyuk -- is he a center? Is he a wing? What exactly is the plan?

Well according to Bergevin on Monday the plan is to start him on the wing this season until further notice. Along with that, Bergevin also said that newly acquired forward Jonathan Drouin will get a shot at center, an experiment the team has been wanting to try ever since they traded for him from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this summer.

But the big story here is probably the Galchenyuk news because the Canadiens seem absolutely convinced that he can not play center. He has spent the first part of his career bouncing back and forth between the two positions and has had a lot of success down the middle offensively, but the team doesn’t seem to trust his play away from the puck.

Given the Canadiens’ need for a top-line center it still seems like it would be worth a shot to see if he can develop that aspect of his game, especially if they are willing to experiment with Drouin at the position given how little experience he has there beyond his last year of junior hockey. He is almost certain to have some growing pains as well, and if the Canadiens treat him the way they did Galchenyuk with such a short leash every time a mistake gets made they may never find an answer at the position.

In Galchenyuk and Droin the Canadiens have two outstanding young forwards that can be potential difference makers in their lineup.

They just don’t seem to have a position at this point for either one of them.