The Montreal Canadiens were set to enter the 2020-21 (or, I guess just the 2021) season in a bit of an odd spot.
They had four key players set to become unrestricted free agents following the season. After loading up by adding Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen, they couldn’t enter the season with Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher and Jeff Petry all wondering if they would get a contract extension.
So, the Habs took care of business early on with Petry and Gallagher.
At the time, their contracts seemed to be more than fair value. It was the middle of the offseason following the Covid shortened 2019-20 season and many teams were not willing to spend a lot of money at all. Lots of teams around the league were looking to cut payroll and the Canadiens went into a bit of a spending spree.
Part of that was inking Petry to a four year extension at $6.25 million per season. Shortly afterward, it was Gallagher who was locked up long term when he signed a six year extension with an annual cap hit of $6.25 million.
Both of those contracts kick in next season, and both already look like much bigger bargains than they did a year ago when they were signed. Just look at a few contracts signed by unrestricted free agents this offseason and ask yourself, “How much could Gallagher and Petry have earned if they hit the open market?”
Gallagher is coming off another season where he was on pace for 30 goals had he played a full 82 game schedule. That is the fourth consecutive season where he was on course for a 30 goal season had injuries or Covid not stepped in the way. The 29 year old right winger has scored exactly 100 goals over those four seasons in a total of 258 regular season contests.
That’s a pace of 32 goals per 82 games. Not to mention the fact Gallagher sets the tone for his team every night and makes the team far more dangerous when he is in the lineup. The Habs went 17-9-9 in 35 games with Gallagher in uniform this past season and were just 7-12-2 in the 21 games he missed. He is a leader and a difference maker who battles on every shift and never takes a night off. He has played on one of the best two-way lines in hockey for the past three years and would have commanded huge money on the open market.
This offseason, we saw Blake Coleman, a third line winger for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, sign a six year contract with a $4.9 million cap hit. Coleman has scored 20 goals twice in his career and was on pace to finish right around 20 again this season if it was an 82 game schedule. Sure, Coleman plays hard and does all the little things, but so does Gallagher, but the Canadiens winger puts pucks in the net at a far greater frequency as well.
While Coleman signed a huge contract with the Calgary Flames, their provincial rivals also overpaid a pesky winger who has some offence to his game.
The Edmonton Oilers gave Zach Hyman a seven year contract with a $5.5 million cap hit. That’s a total of just half a million less than Gallagher’s going to make over his extension. Hyman plays a similar grinding style to Gallagher, but again, Gallagher scores at a 30 goal pace and Hyman scored 20 in two separate seasons and might have again this year if he played 82 games.
if Hyman got seven years and $5.5 million from the Oilers this offseason, they surely would have offered Gallagher more than he signed for with the Canadiens.
While Gallagher could have got a little more money and maybe a seventh year as a UFA, it was Jeff Petry who really could have cashed in compared to what he signed with the Canadiens.
The 33 year old defender finished seventh among defensemen in scoring with 42 points this season. He logged heavy minutes all year on the team’s top power play, the penalty kill and at even strength. He plays a great defensive game but can also jump into the rush and finish his chances as his 12 goals, third among D, shows.
Petry was tied in points with Dougie Hamilton, but Petry can actually defend as well. Though Hamilton has some glaring weaknesses to his game, he signed a monstrous seven year contract with a $9 million cap hit with the New Jersey Devils.
Darnell Nurse had a breakout season and still finished six points behind Petry in the scoring race. Like Hamilton, Nurse tends to gamble on offence and hope for the best, but the Oilers were willing to hand him an eight year contract extension worth $9.25 million per season.
Even if he hit the open market, Petry would not have signed an eight year deal, but he would have got more than four years and he would have got a lot more than $6.25 million per season. A five year contract worth $8 million per year would not have been out of the question.
Luckily, he stays in Montreal for four more seasons at $6.25 million. Gallagher’s contract is a nice deal itself, but Jeff Petry might be one of the biggest bargains in the league heading into next season.