Updated: Canadiens do right by Brendan Gallagher, trade winger to Canucks
The Canadiens have done their best to right a wrong with Brendan Gallagher.
On Monday afternoon, the Canadiens traded the 34-year-old winger to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for future considerations. The Canadiens will also retain 50 per cent of Gallagher’s salary. He has one season remaining on his contract with a US$6.5 million salary-cap hit, but will earn US$4 million.
“On behalf of the entire Canadiens organization, we would like to sincerely thank Brendan for everything he has brought to this team over the course of his remarkable 14-season career in Montreal,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said on the team’s website. “Brendan will always hold a special place in the hearts of Canadiens fans. He represented the team with such tremendous determination, passion and inspiring courage.
“He is the very definition of a warrior, always putting the team’s success ahead of his own individual accolades,” Hughes added. “He always conducted himself like a true Montreal Canadien, both on the ice and in our community, where he made such a significant impact. We wish him the best of luck in Vancouver.”
Gallagher only scored seven goals in 77 regular-season games this season and was a healthy scratch for 16 of 19 playoff games. The previous season he scored 21 goals while playing in all 82 games.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis decided to make Gallagher a healthy scratch for the team’s final game this season, a 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final.
After Gallagher was made a healthy scratch for five regular-season games and all but three playoff games, it became obvious he didn’t have a future with the team. But not being able to dress for one final game with the Canadiens didn’t sit well with Gallagher and it didn’t seem right after all he had done for the franchise while becoming the team’s heart and soul.
It became obvious after the first four games that the Canadiens weren’t going to win the series against the Hurricanes — who went on to win the Stanley Cup — and it was unlikely they were going to win Game 5. The three players on the Canadiens’ fourth line for Game 5 — Kirby Dach, Joe Veleno and Alexandre Texier — combined for one hit and no shots.
The Canadiens probably wouldn’t have won Game 5 with Gallagher in the lineup, but they almost certainly would have put up more of a fight.
“I thought I’d be in there (for Game 5),” Gallagher said when he met with the media after the Canadiens’ season ended. “I was actually looking forward to the opportunity to try to pull guys into the fight. I thought that’s something that I’ll never lose and something I do well. I’m sure I would have been able to. I just wasn’t given the opportunity and that’s fine. I’ve had to accept this fate here for a little while. I’m looking forward to a new challenge.
“Obviously, that’s coach’s decision,” Gallagher added. “That’s within his job title and for me, as a player, when your number’s called, to be ready. … If it’s not called, it’s probably time to move on.”
Gallagher also mentioned at the time that he’d love to play for the Canucks in Vancouver, the city where he grew up and played junior hockey with the WHL’s Giants. Gallagher also has his summer home in Tsawwassen, B.C., and has family in the area.
The Canadiens have granted Gallagher his wish.
His wife, Emma Fortin, is pregnant with their second child and is due to give birth very soon. Gallagher and his wife will remain in Montreal until after the baby is born.
“We’re still here,” Gallagher said during a Zoom conference with media members after the trade was announced. “I was actually skating at the rink today (in Brossard) with Jake (Evans) and Lane (Hutson).
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told (Hughes) on the phone: I’m very thankful,” Gallagher said about going to the Canucks. “I think they handled it with so much respect and I’m forever appreciative of that. They asked me what was going to be best and they worked to that solution. It wasn’t trying to find something else. It was just two teams working it out and in the end I’m very thankful for the way that Gorts (president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton) and Kent and Geoff Molson were able to make this happen for me.”
Molson called Gallagher while he was doing the Zoom conference. Gallagher said he hoped the Canadiens owner/president would understand why the call went to voice mail.
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The Canucks were the worst team in the NHL this season, finishing with a 25-49-8 record, 14 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, who were the second-worst team with a 29-39-14 record. Gallagher can certainly help the Canucks build a better team culture as they start a rebuilding process, just like he did with the Canadiens.
“Brendan is a quality individual and a very good hockey player,” Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson said on the team’s website. “We love the way he competes and leads by example. Bringing in veterans like Brendan will help us set the standard for our younger guys to follow.
“We are excited to add someone who has ties to the Lower Mainland, wants to be here with the Canucks, and knows firsthand how passionate and knowledgeable our hockey market is in Vancouver,” Johnson added. “This is an important acquisition for our hockey club.”
Johnson was named last month as GM to replace Patrik Allvin after twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin were named co-presidents of hockey operations for the Canucks, replacing Jim Rutherford. Manny Malhotra was appointed to replace Adam Foote as head coach. Malhotra and Gallagher were teammates with the Canadiens for the 2014-15 season, Malhotra’s last as a player in the NHL.
“Manny was an awesome teammate,” Gallagher said. “He stepped into our group there in Montreal and I was a young player and he was eager to share his knowledge. Whether it would be faceoffs — which he was as good as anyone — with young players and grabbing guys … on the road if he saw a guy was struggling he’d just pull you aside and have a chat. Manny was a great teammate. It was a pleasure to play with him and I’m very looking forward to playing for him and a guy that I’m sure everyone will be excited to go to battle for.”
Gallagher will be heading to Vancouver on good terms with the Canadiens.
“Like I’ve said, I got nothing bad to say about the Montreal Canadiens,” he said. “It’s been an absolute pleasure and 14 unbelievable seasons and now I’m just excited for the next chapter, for sure.”
