The Montreal Canadiens have gotten off to a horrid start. The are 4-13-2 after 19 games and likely out of playoff contention with almost a quarter of the games played.
The question in Montreal is, what will they do? Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports suggests the Habs trade Brendan Gallagher. He has a salary cap hit of $6.5 million till the 2026-27 season which could be a tough contract to move.
Martineau feels Gallagher can be enticing for some teams, even with his big cap hit. He has grit, a hard worker and suggests if the Habs retain a portion of Gallagher’s salary, he can be traded.
If Montreal can sell the great intangibles that Gallagher brings, he can be traded and bring assets back to the team.
A trade will not likely happens before the Christmas break, but if the Habs do intend to move Gallagher, it will be closer to the NHL trade deadline 2022.
Gallagher does have a modified no-trade clause where he can submit a 6 team no trade list.
Brendan Gallagher salary breakdown
| SEASON | CLAUSE | CAP HIT |
| 2021-22 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| 2022-23 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| 2023-24 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| 2024-25 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| 2025-26 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| 2026-27 | M-NTC, NMC | $6,500,000 |
| TOTAL | $39,000,000 |
