Brendan Gallagher had his first media availability with the Vancouver Canucks media after being traded on Monday, and as always, he was as classy as can be.
It was a relaxed Brendan Gallagher who met with the Vancouver Canucks media for the first time after the Pacific Division side acquired him in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs' former alternate captain admitted that his impending move to Vancouver was perhaps the worst-kept secret in the league lately, but that this outcome was the best-case scenario for both him and his family.
The Gallagher family won’t be heading to Vancouver right away as his wife, Emma Fortin, is expecting the couple’s second child soon and they will therefore have to take their time, but that won’t slow down Gallagher’s preparation for next summer as he sill has access to the Canadiens training facility in Brossard, where he trained for one last time as a member of the Canadiens on Monday morning alongside Jake Evans and Lane Hutson.
Gallagher explained how he felt he could help the rebuilding Canucks going forward “I think one of the most important things we did that sometimes gets overlooked, obviously, you know, yet you had good players, but in terms of culture, I think we've created a really good culture here, said Gallagher, and that that comes from your darkest days and having guys that want to be around. Guys that are committed to the process, believe in the process, and I think that's really important. Any organization, whether it's sports or anything, I think, is nothing without culture, and first and foremost, that'll be the focus, and that's something I can help with. So, I'm looking forward to that. Obviously, having been through it, you know how important it is, so I have a little bit of experience there.”
As he readies to embark on the new chapter of his career, Gallagher has no ill will towards the Canadiens “Yeah, I'll tell you the same thing I told them on the phone. I'm very thankful, you know, said Gallagher, I think they handled it with so much respect, and I'm forever appreciative of that. They asked me what would be best, and they worked toward that solution. They weren't trying to find something else; it was just two teams working it out. I'm very thankful for the way that, obviously, Gorts [Jeff Gorton], Kent [Hughes] and Geoff Molson were able to make this happen for me. So, you know, I've got nothing bad to say about the Montreal Canadiens. It's been an absolute pleasure, and 14 unbelievable seasons, and now I'm just excited for the next chapter, for sure.”
At his end-of-the-year media availability, GM Kent Hughes had said that they would treat Gallagher with the utmost respect, and that’s exactly what the Canadiens did. They didn’t shop around to find a better deal; they only spoke to the Canucks and found a way to make it work financially. The Habs still managed to make the deal digestible, since the salary retention means Gallagher will come off the books after next season rather than in two years if they had bought him out. Had they gone down that route, his buyout cap hit this upcoming season would have stood at $3.8 M this upcoming season and $1.3 M for the 2027-28 season. By retaining 50% of his contract, Gallagher only counts as a $3.25 million cap hit this upcoming season.
The only moment in the media availability when the veteran sounded like he might have been holding back a little was when he was asked whether he had had a conversation with Martin St-Louis about what was coming up and his future role with the team: “No, no, I think that was pretty clear, you know, said Gallagher, I don't think a discussion really needed to be had. You know, obviously, when I was a healthy scratch that game, he had talked to me, and from there, obviously, they had really gone in a different direction. Happened a little bit before then, as well, but it was just one of those things where, you know, decisions were made, and that's fine; that's their decision, and from there, as a player, you just have to move on to put yourself in the right situation.”
In the end, Gallagher accepted the decision, but it was still obvious that he didn’t agree with it, and you couldn’t expect anything else from a proud competitor who has always loved leading his teammates into battle. To be considered surplus to requirements during the playoffs can’t have been easy for the man who exemplified what being a warrior was with the Canadiens for 14 years. Still, he was a class act right up to the end, and Canadiens fans can only wish him the best with his new team.
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