Brendan Gallagher Should Not Be the Montreal Canadiens Captain

The Montreal Canadiens are going to have a new captain for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Kent Hughes confirmed it, and it puts the nail in the coffin of Shea Weber’s career. If it wasn’t enough that Hughes and Gorton are shopping his contract around, this does it.

If Weber were to return, he would automatically be the captain, but putting the ‘C’ on someone else seems to spell the end. And for many, the easy choice would be longtime Montreal Canadien Brendan Gallagher.

It is a strange time to announce that there will be a new captain, as there is no consensus pick for the role. In a couple of years, Nick Suzuki seems like the obvious choice, but he is only 22 years old, and has played just 3 NHL seasons including this one.

Joel Edmundson is another choice. The former St. Louis Blue won the Cup with them in 2019. But he has never captained a team before, and just arrived in Montreal last year, and missed almost all of this year due to injury. After returning against the Kraken, he did look good, but there are a lot of question marks.

And then there is Brendan Gallagher. Two years ago, there would be no question. Gallagher was a part of arguably the best possession line in the entire NHL with Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar, was the longest tenured Hab behind Carey Price, had two 30 goal seasons and played with a chip on his shoulder and seemed to be a natural leader on the ice.

But what a difference a few seasons can make.

Gallagher’s fortune has been tied with the team’s, registering some disappointing offensive numbers in the past couple of years, including just 2 goals in the Canadiens’ run to the Cup this past year.

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And this year has been Gallagher’s worst year of his career. Having lost linemates Danault and Tatar, Gallagher has struggled to find his place on a struggling team, and has scored just 5 goals and 14 points in 41 games this season. The good thing is that Gallagher is shooting at just 4.9%, the lowest of his career. He should have more goals than he has had this year, but you don’t get paid as much as Gallagher does with should haves.

But it’s not just the numbers. The Montreal Canadiens are without leaders Weber, Carey Price, Corey Perry and Eric Staal this year, and there was a distinct lack of leadership that many, myself included, hoped would be picked up by Gallagher.

But that hasn’t been the case.

And maybe Gallagher shouldn’t have been captain all along. Now, take this with a grain of salt as someone who’s ankles would never allow them to play hockey in any sort of organized way, but is the captain simply a figurehead in the locker room?

So, take last year for example. The Montreal Canadiens are down 3-1 in the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and all hope seems lost. Who did everyone say stepped up in the locker room? Two of the newest members of the team Corey Perry and Eric Staal. Veteran guys who have both won the Stanley Cup and have been around the block. But was that a slight against Shea Weber? No, I didn’t hear anything of the sort.

The captain of an NHL team has the official responsibilities to be more open to media availability than other players, and have to talk with the referees when there needs to be an explanation or when arguing a call. It doesn’t seem to really mean that you need to step up in the locker room constantly, although that is something that you would like to see.

And let’s just look at some of the really good captains recently. Well, we just had one with the previous captain, Shea Weber.

Weber was one of the most respected players in the league. He played physically but not overly dirty, and wouldn’t get into it with the officials much after a call went against him. Referees and opposing players respect him. I am not sure if you can say that about Gallagher.

A more direct comparison might be the Boston Bruins, who went from Zdeno Chara to Patrice Bergeron. Its funny, because Nick Suzuki has been constantly compared to Patrice Bergeron, and Brendan Gallagher has been described as Montreal’s version of Brad Marchand.

There’s no question that Marchand and Gallagher fulfill the same roles on their respective teams, and Suzuki will move into Bergeron’s role as he matures. And there is a reason Bergeron is the captain over Marchand, despite the fact that both are great leaders. Bergeron is far more calm, collected and respected in that regard when compared with Marchand.

There are other examples of this. It seems like the captains that are the best offensive player on the team are the less good captains. Alex Ovechkin is a passionate player and the best goal scorer in the world, but yelling at his young goaltender after letting in an overtime goal is a questionable leadership choice to say the least.

No doubt that Gallagher is a great leader when he is on the ice with his total commitment to the play and hard nosed style. He puts every single fiber of his being into every shift, which is great when the game is close or the Canadiens are winning. He has the ability to pull other players up with his enthusiasm and energy.

However, not being captain doesn’t impede that ability. That is all without mentioning his injury troubles. It is tough to say this, as one of my favourite players I have seen play during my lifetime, but Brendan Gallagher should not be the next captain of the Montreal Canadiens.