Since the end of the season, a lot of talk has centred around Alex Galchenyuk's step back this campaign. In a year marred by injuries and inconsistency, the 23-year-old forward has been both a lightning rod of criticism and a beacon of hope.
I first wanted to look at the stages of Galchenyuk's development and how Michel Therrien's particular coaching hallmarks had impacted Galchenyuk's performance relative to others in the American's age cohort.
As I delved into the numbers, it became clear that Therrien's foibles — his propensity for line combination switching in particular — affected the entire Canadiens team and not just Galchenyuk.