Brendan Gallagher announced on Monday, June 1st, that he had played his last game as a Canadien, and further news has shown his agent has been granted permission to seek out a new home. With that, let’s explore a couple of options for where that new home might be.
To clarify, these are not trade proposals or based on any leak or rumour, just places I think he would fit in well.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver certainly seems like the go-to place when it comes to a new home for Gallagher, because in a way, it is home. Gallagher spent his entire junior career in British Columbia, most notably spending four years with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League.
A common theme I’ll touch on throughout these possible destinations is the need for a culture change, which just so happens to be Gallagher’s superpower. There’s hardly a team in the NHL that could use a boost to their culture more than the Canucks. After the years of Petterson drama (you know what Petterson), and of course, the J.T. Miller kerfuffle, addressing the culture of Vancouver is needed.
To the Canucks credit they’ve already started to take action on those issues by shaking up their entire front office and hiring Manny Malhotra as their next head coach. Gallagher would be the perfect guy to bring in to help bring some direction to a locker room with lots of young talent, but only Gallagher and his agent know his desire to mentor another group of young players.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Look, when I said I was going to talk about culture, you had to know that I was going to talk about the Jackets. After Rick Bowness did the coaches' equivalent of reading through the burn book from Mean Girls after the Jackets' final game of the season and stating that a culture change was imperative, I see a Gallagher add as a great fit.
There were many complaints that Columbus’s coach had about his team’s play down a losing stretch that saw his team miss a playoff spot by seven points, chief among them was a lack compete and effort level.
Simply put, a lack of effort has never been something anyone has ever been able to accuse Gallagher of, and he could be the exact type of player who could help drive Bowness’s message forward. A big question mark surrounding this option is how the Blue Jackets address their UFA situation with Jenner, Marchment, and Heinen, all 30 years old, sitting without contracts. All three are experienced players in the NHL, so balancing age and young talent is a difficult tightrope to walk.
Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard has had almost every single veteran that has surrounded him be stripped away for parts and futures since joining the Windy City. A player with the compete and attitude of Gallagher could help bring a spark to the only younger team than Montreal in the league.
Another bonus is that Chicago could probably gain an asset or two by taking on Gallagher’s 6.5 million a year contract, and they aren’t locked into it long-term, as it expires at the end of next season. It would also work out in Gallagher’s favour in terms of ice-time, as he is almost guaranteed to see tons of action.
Gallagher does have a full no-move clause attached to his current contract, so he is essentially in full control of where his next home will be; the only thing known is that it will not be with the Canadiens.
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