Brendan Gallagher may be on his way out and unlikely to wear the Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]’ jersey next season, but on Tuesday, he attended the CN Sports Complex in Brossard like a few of his teammates. Why? Well, it wasn’t to skate as the veteran didn’t put on his equipment, but he did spend some time on the bench watching Ivan Demidov and prospect Alexander Zharovsky skate. He wasn’t the only curious Hab as Nick Suzuki, Phillip Danault, and Jacob Fowler were also in attendance. According to TVA Sports’ Nicolas Cloutier, Gallagher’s agent is pleased with the way the Canadiens have been handling the veteran’s case this offseason. Now that the Stanley Cup final is over and the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes] have been crowned champions, teams have started moving on the trade market. The Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] and the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers] made a surprising goalie swap, the Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche] sent Ross Colton to the Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators]for picks, in other words, it’s business as usual. While Gallagher’s agent previously mentioned that the Vancouver Canucks had interest in the veteran, if the Canadiens are unable to conclude a trade, they could also buy out the alternate captain. That could happen if potential trade partners are proving a bit too greedy in negotiations, requesting too much as a sweetener to take on the contract. While they’d be doing the Canadiens a favour by picking up the veteran’s contract, the contract could also be useful to them to reach the cap floor, giving Hughes some leverage in negotiations. For instance, if Vancouver were to manage to trade away Elias Pettersson and his huge contract, they would have trouble meeting the cap floor, and Gallagher’s contract would then come in rather handy. Last season, Hughes only had to give the San Jose Sharks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks] a fifth-round pick and take on Gannon Laroque’s contract to shed Carey Price’s huge contract. The Sharks were near the 50-contract limit, and it provided them with some much-needed relief. In an ideal world, the Canadiens would be able to trade Gallagher early this offseason, and Hughes could then move on to addressing the team’s needs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
