Trade for a forward: major statement on Brendan Gallagher's future

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Dan
March 25, 2023 (1:34)

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This week marked the return of veteran forward Brendan Gallagher. As many have noticed in the first two games, number 11 seems to be struggling to keep up.

With a contract in his pocket for four more seasons, which will take $6.5M annually from the payroll, many are hoping that the fiery CH forward will leave the club this summer. One of them is former NHL defenseman Philippe Boucher, and he expressed his thoughts on the Jean-Charles Lajoie show on Thursday night.

"A contract buyout, it can be positive for Brendan Gallagher and for the Canadiens. We have a lot of respect for the veterans in the Canadiens organization. We've treated Jake Allen and Joel Edmundson well and we treat Brendan Gallagher well. I think we're going to have a lot of respect for Brendan Gallagher on this. Having respect for him is maybe buying out his contract." - Philippe Boucher

The former player thinks that the direction of the Montreal team will go looking for another forward during the off-season and that Gallagher will find himself between two chairs.

"We're going to make a transaction for a forward, I'm sure. We're going to try to get somebody on the free-agent market and we may have a young guy who's ready to come up. If everyone is healthy, we don't have a role for Brendan Gallagher." - Philippe Boucher

On Friday morning, in order to add to the subject, Jean-Charles Lajoie took advantage of his editorial moment on BPM Sports radio to advocate a contract buyout for Gallagher. See it all here below according to CapFriendly:

As you can see, the CH would save nearly $5.7M in the first season and even have a $208K gift in the second year. The problem could occur in the 4th season when 4,2M$ would go on the CH's books. Kent Hughes will have plenty of time to plan for this and the natural increase in the cap will cover it all.

It is certain that Gallagher has been quite a player for the CH since the beginning of his career and that his buyout could be frowned upon by the players or the fans. However, it is important to know that his contract was not signed by Hughes but by Marc Bergevin. The new GM has to do everything he can to get the team back on track and buying out Gally is one of those steps.

Many teams in recent years have had no choice but to go through this process to get back on track. One only has to think of the Tampa Bay Lightning who, in 2013, bought out one of the biggest names in their history in Vincent Lecavalier. One can say, a decade later, that it will have been beneficial as they have since won two Stanley Cups and participated three times in the Finals.

More recently, Lajoie recalls that Bill Guerin made the same kind of decision when he bought out the heavy contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in Minnesota. They had been the club's longtime headliners. Nearly two years later, the Wild are one of the best teams in the Western Association and have come out on top.

You can listen to this Friday's editorial by Jean-Charles Lajoie right here.