Canadiens plan to move Galchenyuk to center: report

Alex Galchenyuk played left wing in his first two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, but the team is planning to move him to center, TSN's Bob McKenzie reported Tuesday.

During an interview with Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, it was revealed that Montreal would like to try the 20-year-old in the middle. Galchenyuk, who was a first-round pick (No. 3) at the 2012 NHL Draft, had 13 goals and 18 assists in 65 games last season and two goals and one assist in five Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"We will start him in training camp at center," Bergevin said. "We want to see where he's at. We know sometimes it's harder for a young player to player center in the NHL, especially down low. But with two years under his belt, we want to evaluate where he's at in the center position and then we'll make a decision."

Despite recent reports that goaltender Martin Brodeur would be willing to accept a backup role to join the Canadiens, it appears that won't be happening anytime soon. Bergevin made it sound during the interview that either Peter Budaj or Dustin Tokarski will be the No. 2 behind starting goalie Carey Price.

Tokarski played for the Canadiens during the Eastern Conference Final after Price was injured during Game 1 against the New York Rangers. The Canadiens lost the series in six games, but Tokarski had a 2.60 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in Price's absence. Budaj went 10-8-3 with a 2.51 GAA and .909 save percentage in 24 regular-season games.

"Peter Budaj is a proven backup goalie in the NHL and a good one," Bergevin told McKenzie. "Dustin Tokarski came in the playoffs last year, the sixth game against the Rangers and was extremely good, but again you're going against a guy with the experience and is a really good backup goalie. So that's why you have training camp and we'll see what happens. We have depth in that position now.

"If we feel one guy is really ahead of the other guy, we will make a decision. Maybe a trade might be a possibility, but at the end of the day, also starting with three goalies might be a possibility. I leave it open, but again, I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out during training camp."