Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher Will Eventually Be a Star

Before training camp began, there were a few players that I was looking forward to seeing play.

I was hoping that Max Pacioretty would look confident and wasn't going to miss a step after recovering from injury. So far, so good: Patches has been the best player at camp.

I was eager to see how Erik Cole would look and see if he could potentially develop some chemistry with his new linemates. I think we can put a check mark next to that one.

Alexei Yemelin was the player I was most zeroed in on. Unfortunately, save for the first Habs intrasquad scrimmage, I haven't been very impressed. Yemelin does not look very comfortable and may need more time than I anticipated getting adjusted to the smaller North American ice surface.

Surprisingly, it looks as if Raphael Diaz has taken the sixth-defenseman position, which I thought was nearly a lock for Yemelin.  Diaz has been impressive—he's got great offensive upside and seems to be, at this point, a very intelligent player.  It's possible that, because of Diaz' showing, his countryman Yannick Weber is out of a job as a defenseman (whether we like it or not, I might add.)

As much of a curveball as that may be, there has been nothing in the preseason that has been as shocking as the play of Brendan Gallagher.

I think we all knew that Gallagher was going to be a future star with the Habs. His play over the past couple of years with the Vancouver Giants has been remarkable, and he is a lock to make the Canadian World Junior hockey team.  I thought he would be an interesting player to have a look at to see what we were in store for.

Rather than looking at him, I have been in awe of him.

He seems to have great playmaking ability, he sees the ice exceptionally well (especially for a guy that's 5'8"), he has worked on his foot-speed and he drives the net when necessary.

He's been a lot of fun to watch, and it looks like he has a shot of getting a nine-game trial.  I'm all for it, I just hope that fans aren't too excited or hopeful that he is going to instantly produce at full clip.

He's had the luxury of playing with the Habs' top-six forwards this preseason. If he does make the team, he'll most likely be playing with David Desharnais and Andrei Kostitsyn, until Lars Eller is back in the lineup. Brendan may have the chance to play with Eller and Kostitsyn at that point, which could be an interesting line.

Perhaps he'll be able to keep his momentum going, but he's going to have a more difficult time playing on the third line with more defensive duties.  It will be good for his overall game, no question. There is absolutely no downside in rounding out your game at an NHL level.

I think it will be great for his confidence heading back to juniors, too. How many 19-year-old hockey players can say that they were able to crack the Montreal Canadiens' lineup?

Gallagher is a very skilled winger. I expect him to be a name we hear a lot of very soon.

But please, Habs fans, don't put No. 73 on the back of your jerseys just yet—there will be plenty of time for that.

Jason is on Twitter: Follow @jhytel