Brendan Gallagher in the stands: Renaud Lavoie thinks the idea is ridiculous

Last night, Mitch Gallo (who co-hosts TSN 690) shared an interesting piece of news: according to what he's heard, Brendan Gallagher will no longer be in the Habs' lineup every night. They apparently want to better manage his workload so as not to overwork him. You can tell he's running on empty at times… and seeing Alexandre Texier perform well upon his return to the lineup, it's hard to justify leaving the Frenchman on the bench.
That said, we know Gallagher is appreciated and respected around town. He's been a warrior for the Habs for a very long time, and it's true that we shouldn't downplay all of that.
And during Renaud Lavoie's segment on BPM Sports, the idea of seeing Gally in the stands sparked some debate… particularly because the reporter thinks it doesn't make sense. In his view, Gallagher is still a very useful player… and he even noted that Gallagher's top speed places him in the 79th percentile of NHL players this season.

And in fact, it's true that it's quite impressive when you see it. It's obviously no gazelle on skates, but the advanced statistics show that its top speed is still there.
The problem, however, is that the numbers measured here relate to acceleration rather than skating speed. When you look at the latter, you see that Gallagher is really, really below the NHL average.

In Lavoie's view, the Habs would still be better off keeping Gallagher in the lineup every night, even if that means Texier sits out on a regular basis. The insider claims that Gally is still capable of contributing and that he still has a place in the lineup. I'm eager to see how Martin St-Louis handles this situation over the coming weeks.