Friedman: Eller is Habs' most-sought player

Elliotte Friedman was on 630 CHED Friday afternoon.

On Alex Galchenyuk at centre versus on the wing:

“A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I think that Marc Bergevin basically could trade Lars Eller if he wanted to. I remember when he got the job, he told me that the guy other teams called about the most was Eller. I’m under the impression that has not changed. He’s a centre. Also, he’s signed for four more – or four years at a pretty reasonable number. I don’t know how high his offensive ceiling is going to be, but he’s a big kid and he can defend.

“One of the reasons I wrote it was because they were talking about making Galchenyuk a centre and who knows if that makes Eller expendable. Well, the day I wrote it I got a call from somebody who said that they had looked into Eller and they had been told they were probably going to be keeping him because they weren’t ready to make Galchenyuk a full-time centre. I checked it again and it looks like he’s going to play the wing this year.

“The reason I was told, as I wrote, is that he’s a very instinctive player. They think right now at centre he overthinks the position. He doesn’t play instinctively. He doesn’t do what he normally does. And on the wing, he’s a much more ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ player and they like that about him.

“So I think the Galchenyuk at centre thing is over for now, although I still think the guy is a heck of a talent. I don’t think it’s a negative against him, Bob, as much as it is he’s not ready for that yet.”

Source: 630 CHED/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey