NHL rumors: Canadiens will either trade Brendan Gallagher to Canucks or buy him out

Brendan Gallagher is the longest tenured member of the Montreal Canadiens. His tenure with the Habs, which in 2012-13, is likely to be coming to an end, as the Canadiens will be moving on from Gallagher.

Now, the future of Gallagher is becoming clearer, according to Darren Dreger of TSN.

“They want to and intend on doing right by Gallagher. We all saw his end of the season address with the media how emotional he was at the idea of he knew the reality is he’s leaving the Canadiens. He’s leaving the city of Montreal,” Dreger said. “Sources tell me, Gino, that Kent Hughes and Ryan Johnson, the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, continue to have trade discussions and negotiations on the possibility of moving Gallagher into his hometown of Vancouver. So they’re continuing to work away at that.”

Gallagher was born in Edmonton, but played in the WHL for the Vancouver Giants. He would spend four seasons with the Giants before moving on to his NHL career, initially playing with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL before heading to the Canadiens.

“If they can’t get a deal that makes sense done, then I do think that the Canadiens simply will trigger the buyout option sooner rather than later. Then that allows Gallagher and his representative, Jerry Johansson, to explore what the market is as a buyout free agent,” Dreger continued. “So there are options, but it seems like option ‘A’ is still a trade between the Canadians and Canucks where Gallagher would land up in Vancouver.”

Gallagher still has one year left on the six-year contract he signed with the Habs in 2020 and took effect in 2021-22. He has an AAV of $6.5 million left for this year. A buyout would save the team $2.67 million in 2026-27, but cost the team $1.33 million in dead space in 2027-28.

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