It’s beautiful, the reconstruction. It’s exciting, young people. But at some point you have to be consistent.
Because what’s happening between Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook is anything but logical.
Imagine for a moment: on one side, Gallagher, 31, who was dragged through the mud as finished, incapable, and above all, a financial burden.
On the other, Alex Newhook, 23, supposedly a cornerstone of the Canadian’s future. But after 20 games?
Gallagher already has twice as many goals as Newhook and, believe it or not, he doesn’t even play on the top line.
Meanwhile, Martin St-Louis decides to put Newhook, with his 4 goals and a catastrophic differential of -11, alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
A first line, nothing less.
And Gallagher, who already has 8 goals, remains in a secondary role, as if his performances were speaking into a vacuum.
Seriously, what are we playing?
Gallagher is the soul of this team. The guy has been sacrificing for years, takes a beating, gets back up, and does it again.
Although he may be slowed down by injuries, he is proving this season that he still has some in the tank. But for some inexplicable reason, he is left out of the main offensive unit.
Newhook, on the other hand, is handed opportunities on a silver platter, even though he has done nothing to deserve them. And we are surprised that the team is at the bottom of the ranking.
Are we trying to protect an investment?
Newhook arrived here with a lot of hope and a significant cost: two first- and second-round draft picks.
But the problem is that hope doesn’t put the puck in the net.
The results speak, and right now, Newhook has nothing to justify this promotion. And yet, there he is, evening after evening, as if merit no longer counted.
Meanwhile, Gallagher, the eternal warrior, is watching this.
Is he frustrated? We’ll never know, because this guy is never going to show it. But we can imagine it.
The player who gives everything for his team is overshadowed by a youngster who, for the moment, costs more than he brings in.
If anyone deserved a chance to play with Suzuki and Caufield, it’s Gallagher. But here we are, we are in the era of betting on young people. And sometimes those bets don’t make sense.
Martin St-Louis likes to talk about “process” and “merit”. But with Newhook on the first line, those words lose all meaning.
And if Gallagher, with his 8 goals and hard work, doesn’t deserve promotion, then who does? Not Newhook, that’s for sure.
The message sent here is disturbing. It’s not performance that counts, it’s something else.
And that, for a locker room, is the kind of situation that can hurt.
Brendan Gallagher won’t say anything. But we all know what he deserves.
So, what are we waiting for?
To be continued…
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