“He doesn't work, I don't see him working hard enough every shift,” said Kim Houston of NHL Central Scouting to Hockey’s Future. “Every shift you've got to play and sometimes he'll float through some shifts. I always notice when they have the puck and he seems to exert himself a little more.”
The first overall pick of the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft by the Saint John Sea Dogs has been criticized quite a bit over the past month by a number of publications. The work ethic comments began after the Galiev struggled at the NHL Combine in Toronto on June 4.
“Last year’s USHL scoring star has ALWAYS scored but his Combine job = poor work ethic,” said Mark Seidal on Twitter.
“He's kind of one-dimensional,” said Houston. “He makes one nice move, but then what does he do the rest of the night? He doesn't play away from the puck that well and in the defensive zone, you're going to have to learn to a lot better than that to move on to the next level.”
Criticism comes with the job when you are a projected high pick for the NHL draft. But Galiev’s stock has slipped since the first half of the 2009-10 QMJHL season. Most so called “experts” have the skilled and speedy Russian forward going anywhere between the 23rd and 40th picks.
Willy Palov, the Halifax Mooseheads beat reporter for the Chronicle Herald, has evened placed the Sea Dogs sensation as the third best first-time-draft-eligible player available in the QMJHL behind Moncton’s Brandon Gormley and the Herd’s Mathieu Corbeil. Just about everyone under the sun has listed Galiev as the second best prospect in the Quebec circuit all season.
“The Russian winger "looks" like a player but his production doesn’t always measure up,” stated Palov in his weekly column. “He is a great skater who looks comfortable in the offensive zone but he only managed 15 goals playing on a line with two of the best forwards in the league — Mike Hoffman and Nicholas Petersen. The knock is he has trouble finishing, despite his wealth of talent.”
The opening round of the NHL Entry Draft is next Friday from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The other rounds begin the following morning.
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