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Canadiens crisis at center clouded by Alex Galchenyuk’s status

The Montreal Canadiens aren’t trading goalie Carey Price.

They don’t expect any drama. There won’t be another edition of the Context Olympics that were held during GM Marc Bergevin’s P.K. Subban saga, when we all had to figure out the differences between “keeping” and “listening” and “shopping” a player. The Canadiens intend to talk contract with Price, who goes unrestricted next summer, and could make him the highest paid Canadiens player.

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Which presents a problem of sorts, based on how winning teams in the NHL are constructed:

Can a team win the Stanley Cup if its highest-paid player is its goaltender?

“I hope so, because he’s not going anywhere,” said Bergevin at the Habs’ year-end press conference, following their six-game series loss to the New York Rangers.

The good news is that the Habs have a franchise goalie. The bad news is that they don’t have a semblance of an impactful No. 1 center, another trait shared by Stanley Cup champions, although Bergevin has a different view on that being a necessity.

“I believe there are teams in the past that won without a true No. 1 center,” he said.

You could argue that the Anaheim Ducks won in 2007 with Andy McDonald as a point-producing but not dominant No. 1 center. (Ryan Getzlaf wasn’t Ryan Getzlaf yet.) You could argue that the 1995 New Jersey Devils won without one, as Neal Broten’s best years were behind him. (They also had Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer, which helps.)

But beyond those teams … um, there haven’t been any in the last 40 years that didn’t have an established, difference-making No. 1 center, whether we’re talking superstars like Sidney Crosby and Joe Sakic or total players like Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron and Anze Kopitar.

So let’s go with the premise that Montreal needs one.

How do they get one?

The best option for finding a No. 1 center is also the best advice for getting recreational narcotics at low prices:

Grow your own.

Alex Galchenyuk has played 336 games in the NHL since being drafted by the Canadiens third overall in 2012. (Eight spots ahead of Filip Forsberg, but we digress.) During that time, he’s ping-ponged between the wing and center, never being able to establish himself at the latter position, mostly because Bergevin, former coach Michel Therrien and current coach Claude Julien viewed him as a defensive liability despite his offensive promise.

“Ideally, we would want him to play center. Ideally. But I think he realizes the same thing that we realize right now. Playing center is one of the toughest jobs there is. You have to be all over the ice. And you gotta be able to skate,” said Julien on Monday.

“Right now, he’s not at that stage. We have to put him in a position where he’s going to help himself and help the team, and right now the No. 1 center job … he wasn’t ready for it right now. It hurt him in his development and it hurt us as a team. He realizes that playing better away from the puck is what’s going to get him back playing center again. Wingers have less responsibilities. We’re going to take this step by step with him, and then maybe slide him back at center. It’s a decision he can make for us with his play.”

In other words, Galchenyuk will let the Canadiens know when he’s ready to be a No. 1 center when he shows them whatever it is they’re looking for; which, as Bergevin alluded to, they kinda thought they would have seen from him already.

“At some point, players have to take ownership. Know where their games are at,” said the general manager, speaking in vague terms about Galchenyuk and other young players.

Galchenyuk had 17 goals and 27 assists in 61 games this season, after hitting 30 goals in 82 games in 2015-16.

If he doesn’t meet their standards, or if they believe he doesn’t necessarily possess the potential to do so, then things could get tricky. He’s a restricted free agent who is arbitration eligible and already did a two-year bridge deal. If he wants something long-term, and the Canadiens aren’t down with it, then Galchenuyk could be potentially moved in a trade to acquire a No. 1 center, which is Bergevin’s next option.

There’s been talk for months about a potential fit between Montreal and Colorado on center Matt Duchene, most because he’s a top center that allegedly available and those types of players don’t move that often.

“They don’t move at all, by the way,” clarified Bergevin.

Galchenyk would be a chip to play. But a team like Colorado would target blue-chip defensive prospect Mikhail Sergachev; and unless Bergevin decides sacrificing the future for a potential Stanley Cup run (or to save his job) is the right course, that would be a non-starter.

(Which is good, because the Canadiens trading young defensive prospects for top centers can be a bloody disaster.)

If the Canadiens don’t want to surrender that kind of prospect, and prefer draft picks instead, well then there’s always the chance that Bergevin betrays the old boys club and tenders an offer sheet to an RFA center.

Here’s the list this summer. Not many options, and most of the ones available would likely be matched by their teams. (Unless you want to break the bank for Tyler Johnson.)

“It’s a tool in the CBA that teams have used in the past. If it makes sense for the Montreal Canadiens, we’ll look at it closely,” said Bergevin.

Bergevin likes a lot about his current group, to the point where he said he didn’t plan on “blowing up the team” after losing a closely contested series with the Rangers. The Canadiens played hard. They competed. He and Julien are fond of mentioning how close the scores were in those six games.

Without that hole in the middle of their lineup, perhaps Montreal could have been the one to eek out enough offense to advance. Instead, Bergevin was answering questions about what went wrong.

“I didn’t think I was going to have to do this, this early,” he said.

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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