Montreal Canadiens Sign Reilly Walsh
The Montreal Canadiens have poached a depth defenseman from the international free agent market. According to a team announcement, the Canadiens have signed defenseman Reilly Walsh to a one-year, two-way contract.
Walsh, 27, spent last season with the KHL’s Barys Astana, his first outside the North American market for the first time in his career. He performed well on the offense, scoring 16 goals and 46 points in 68 games with a -24 rating.
That’s not dissimilar from how Walsh typically performed in the AHL. An alumnus of Harvard University, Walsh’s brief professional career was defined by above-average scoring ability, with subpar respect to the defensive side of the puck.
In his most recent AHL campaign, with the Ontario Reign, Walsh scored six goals and 32 points in 70 games with a -11 rating. The previous year, with the Providence Bruins, he registered nine goals and 28 points in 60 games with a -17 rating.
Despite being currently positioned as the oldest player on the Laval Rocket’s defensive corps, it’s unlikely that Walsh will factor into Montreal’s 2026-27 season. Although he’ll give the Rocket some offensive punch on the blue line, Montreal will likely rely on youngsters like David Reinbacher or Adam Engstrom should they need an injury replacement at any point throughout the season.
15 Players Elect For Salary Arbitration
The deadline to file for salary arbitration passed at 5 P.M. ET on July 5. 15 players elected to head to arbitartion before then, including the market’s top free agent, Dallas Stars’ winger Jason Robertson. Arbitration hearings will take place between late-July and early-August. Filing for arbitration will restrict players from negotiating contracts with any other team, removing high-value RFAs like Robertson from offer sheet eligibility. Players will have the opportunity to continue negotiating with their current team and could avoid arbitration by reaching a new deal before their hearing occurs. The full list of players who filed for salary arbitration in 2026, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic, is as follows:
F Xavier Bourgault (Ottawa Senators)
F Kirby Dach (Montreal Canadiens)
D Jamie Drysdale (Philadelphia Flyers)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Alex Jefferies (New York Islanders)
F Peyton Krebs (Buffalo Sabres)
F Connor McMichael (St. Louis Blues)
F Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg Jets)
F Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars)
F Nicholas Robertson (Pittsburgh Penguins)
G Akira Schmid (Florida Panthers)
D Braden Schneider (New York Rangers)
D Ronan Seeley (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Cole Sillinger (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Trevor Zegras (Philadelphia Flyers)
Canadiens Have Discussed Kirby Dach In Trade Talks
Though the Canadiens are still in the market for a top-six forward, they’ve also discussed the possibility of dealing from their current depth group to make it happen. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that Kirby Dach‘s name has popped up in some of the front office’s trade talks with other clubs, though likely only in a deal that sees Montreal net a center.
Dach, 25, is coming off yet another injury-plagued season. His 8-7–15 scoring line in 37 outings worked out to 0.41 points per game, a slight bump from last year’s overall production but the worst assists-per-game output of his NHL career. He struggled to produce in the playoffs as well and was dropped to a fourth-line role. His 13:39 average time on ice in the regular season was also the lowest of his career as his power-play usage wilted, although he did show some improvement in the dot for a career-high 41.4% faceoff win rate.
What the 2019 third overall pick still brings in spades is speed. Even with two right ACL tears on his injury list in the last three years, his skating has rebounded well, and his 23.42 MPH max skating speed this season sat in the 94th percentile of all skaters. As someone without a ton of defensive awareness, though, that speed doesn’t mean much if he can’t convert it into point production.
Dach is without a contract, although the Habs issued him his $4MM qualifying offer last month to retain his rights. He could very well just ink that as he risks a lower salary by drawing things out to an arbitration hearing. AFP Analytics projects he will receive only $2.225MM annually on a two-year contract. None of those potential scenarios is of real concern for the Habs, who still sit with over $14.2MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. He also still fills a depth need with no internal candidates, making a huge push for his job, and his ability to step in on the power play if needed is valuable.
Hence, don’t expect the Habs to move him for the sake of moving him. He just wrapped up the four-year, $13.45MM contract he signed with Montreal in 2022 after they sent the 13th overall pick in that year’s draft to the Blackhawks, who ended up selecting Frank Nazar, to acquire him.
The number of impact centers available isn’t high as Montreal continues its years-long pursuit for a stable second-line pivot behind Nick Suzuki. Vincent Trocheck came off the board on July 1 as the Mammoth went to bat for him, and while Dylan Larkin is still available, the list of teams he’ll accept a trade to is small, and it doesn’t appear the Habs are on it.
There are similarly-aged reclamation-project types like Morgan Frost or Shane Wright who could fit the bill, and both Calgary and Seattle would likely have some level of interest in recouping Dach to help out their forward depth in either of those swaps.
Canadiens Sign Jakub Dobes To Three-Year Extension
Despite having one of the best goaltending prospects in the game, the Montreal Canadiens will continue to ride the hot hand. According to a team announcement, the Canadiens have signed netminder Jakub Dobes to a three-year, $16.07MM ($5.357MM AAV) contract.
Montreal selected Dobes with the 136th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. He wasn’t believed to be a high-level goaltending prospect, but after a pair of quality years at The Ohio State University, Dobes started to turn some heads in Montreal. Throughout his two years with the Buckeyes, Dobes managed a 42-28-5 record in 75 games with a .926 SV% and 2.29 GAA.
Inspired by his performance, the Canadiens brought Dobes to the professional ranks ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He spent the entire season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Although the Rocket gave him a heavy workload in his rookie season, Dobes handled it with grace, finishing with a 24-18-6 record in 51 games with a .906 SV% and 2.93 GAA.
Getting off to another solid start with the Rocket in 2024-25, Montreal finally gave Dobes his shot. Although he would ultimately finish the season with a .909 SV%, Dobes got off to a ridiculous start in the NHL. Through his first five games, Dobes won all of them, managing a .941 SV%. These weren’t easy wins, either. Dobes backstopped the Canadiens to mid-season wins against the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, and Dallas Stars.
Coupled with some disappointing play from Sam Montembeault, Dobes took over the starter’s crease last season. The Ostrava, Czechia native again handled it well, managing a 29-10-4 record in 43 games with a .901 SV% and 2.78 GAA. Not only did he help Montreal reach the postseason, but he was selected to the All-Rookie Team and nearly became a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year, finishing fourth in voting.
Now, Dobes is the only goaltender in the organization signed beyond the 2027-28 campaign. Youngster Jacob Fowler, the top prospect alluded to earlier, will need another contract at that point once his entry-level contract expires. Still, Montreal’s commitment to Dobes likely means that Montembeault won’t last much longer with the organization.
Canadiens Sign Ivan Demidov To Eight-Year Extension
According to his agent, Dan Milstein, Ivan Demidov is signing an eight-year, $73MM ($9.125MM) extension with the Montreal Canadiens. This deal will go into effect in the 2027-28 season, after Demidov plays through the final year of his three-year, $2.82MM entry-level contract.
This deal will mark a major milestone for the Canadiens, who will now have Demidov, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Lane Hutson signed through the 2030-31 season, at least. Securing that young core will help Montreal build on a pair of playoff appearances already led by their young stars. After a first-round exit in 2025, Demidov’s emergence helped Montreal race towards the Eastern Conference Finals in 2026. The young Russian contributed nine points to 19 games of Montreal’s playoff run, after scoring 62 points during the regular season – the second-most from any Canadiens rookie since 2005 behind Hutson’s 66 points.
Demidov emerged as a scoring star well before his standout rookie season. He played through his rookie KHL season last year and managed a productive 19 goals and 49 points in 65 games. That performance earned him the KHL’s Alexei Cherepanov Award, delivered annually to the league’s ‘Rookie of the Year’. Demidov was the motor behind a Russian junior championship prior to that, scoring 88 points in just 47 games through the 2023-24 MHL season. Montreal drafted Demidov with the fifth-overall pick in 2024 on the heels of that performance.
More to come…
Canadiens Interested In Signing Mason Marchment
Additionally, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun shared that the Montreal Canadiens are another team with interest in Marchment, but are hesitant to sign him to a long-term deal to avoid blocking younger players on the roster. However, if the Canadiens are unwilling to offer Marchment a multi-year deal of any kind, it’s unlikely that he will take his talents to Quebec.
Mammoth Acquire, Extend Joshua Roy
Earlier today, the Utah Mammoth announced that they had acquired forward Joshua Roy from the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Maksymilian Szuber. A few hours later, the Mammoth announced that they had signed Roy to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season at an $850K salary.
Roy, 22, was originally drafted with the 150th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Canadiens. A native of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec, Roy enjoyed a quick transition to the professional ranks, going from the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix in 2022-23 to the AHL’s Laval Rocket in 2023-24.
Throughout the past three years, Roy has become an extremely effective scorer at the AHL level. In 145 games for the Rocket, Roy has registered 56 goals and 112 points, including another six goals and 12 points in 19 games. Unfortunately, he has some flaws in his defensive game as evidenced by his -20 rating throughout his career.
Furthermore, all that scoring at the AHL level hasn’t translated over to the NHL. In his three years with the organization, Roy has managed only 38 games for the Canadiens, scoring six goals and 11 points with a -8 rating, averaging 11:36 of ice time. It’s unlikely that Roy will have access to more playing time with Utah. Still, if he enjoys a solid stretch with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners to begin the year, he may be called upon as an injury replacement throughout the year.
Meanwhile, Szuber has spent the last three years in North America after a three-year career in the DEL. Aside from a one-game stint with the Coyotes in the 2023-24 campaign, it’s been all AHL for Szuber. With the Roadrunners, Szuber has registered 25 goals and 87 points in 200 career AHL contests.
Vancouver Canucks Acquire Brendan Gallagher
First reported by Rick Dhaliwal, Brendan Gallagher is being traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Both teams have since confirmed the trade.
The Montreal Canadiens will retain 50% of the salary, per Puckpedia, meaning the Canucks will only pay $3.25MM of that cap hit. Gallagher, who indicated that he expected to be moved this offseason, has one year left on that contract with a $6.5MM AAV, split between both teams.
Previously, in an appearance on Donnie and Dhali (video link), Gerry Johansson, the agent for Gallagher, confirmed he had spoken with the Canucks about being a landing spot for his client. He said that Vancouver had an interest in the 34-year-old.
Of all the trades that have taken place since the end of the Stanley Cup Final, this one was the most obvious. This past season, despite not dealing with any major injuries, Gallagher had arguably the worst offensive showing of his professional career, registering seven goals and 23 points in 77 games while averaging 12:21 of ice time. In the playoffs, he tallied one assist in three games, being a healthy scratch on most nights.
Unfortunately, despite giving 14 years of his life to the “bleu, blanc et rouge”, Gallagher’s time with the organization ends unceremoniously. Once a key player for the organization in the late 2010s, Gallagher concludes his time with the Canadiens having recorded 246 goals and 487 points in 911 regular-season games, along with 14 goals and 34 points in 79 postseason matches.
Still, while he lost much of his ice time in Montreal, he should have access to much more in Vancouver. The Canucks are in the basement of the NHL, and having just traded Nils Hoglander to the Nashville Predators, should have plenty of opportunity for Gallagher in the middle six on the right side.
He won’t be expected to do much on the ice, given that Vancouver has no expectations of competing next year. However, Gallagher’s experience at every level that the game has to offer will be invaluable to the younger crop coming up for the Canucks this next season. That’s not to say Gallagher won’t play meaningful hockey again, however. Given the Canucks position in their rebuild, Gallagher immediately becomes a trade candidate for next year’s deadline.
PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed to this article.
Offseason Checklist: Montreal Canadiens
The offseason is now in full effect following Carolina’s Stanley Cup title. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what teams will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Montreal.
After a somewhat surprising playoff appearance last season, the Canadiens took a big swing in the summer with the acquisition of Noah Dobson in the hopes they’d take another step forward. They did just that, making it to the Eastern Conference Final before falling to the Hurricanes. Now, with a team that has clearly exited their rebuild, GM Kent Hughes has some more work to do to further strengthen his group.
Decide On Dach
Four years ago, the Canadiens made a splash on the trade front at the draft they were hosting. In a pair of swaps, they moved defenseman Alexander Romanov and a pair of draft picks to land Kirby Dach from Chicago. The hope was that a change of scenery could help him live up to his potential, once viewed high enough to make him the third-overall pick in 2019. With Montreal needing center help, he could have filled that need. He was signed to a four-year bridge deal of sorts, a vote of confidence from management.
But the move hasn’t worked out as planned. While Dach has shown flashes of impressive play, it has been surrounded by inconsistency and injuries. Over his four years since the trade, he has played in 154 games (potting 32 goals and 45 assists) while missing 174 due to injuries. When healthy, he has been more of a third liner and missing just over 53% of the team’s games means he hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Now, the Canadiens have a decision to make. Do they tender him a $4MM qualifying offer and run the risk of him filing for arbitration? Do they try to work out a deal beforehand or do a multi-year pact? Or, do they look to try to move him, further weakening their depth down the middle? Based on how things went for him this past season, none of those options are particularly desirable but one way or the other, they’ll have to at least pick a direction soon.
Work On Demidov Extension
For the most part, Montreal’s management group has been proactive in terms of trying to sign its core players to long-term contracts. Lane Hutson was the most recent example of that. While talks over the summer went nowhere, they got an eight-year pact across the finish line during the regular season.
Now, they face another contract discussion of similar magnitude with winger Ivan Demidov. Since the Canadiens burned the first year of his entry-level deal at the end of the 2024-25 campaign (plus their playoff appearance), he’s now set to enter the final season of that pact in 2026-27. That means he’s eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st. Both Demidov and management have expressed a willingness to get something done on that front this summer.
But how much would a deal like that cost? The 2024 fifth-overall pick led all rookies in points this past season with 19 goals and 43 assists in 82 games but there’s an expectation on both sides that he has another gear to get to. As is always the case in these types of discussions, those expectations are factored into the price tag, making things a little riskier for both sides. On top of that, the projected bigger increases to the salary cap are making price tags spike. AFP Analytics projects that a seven-year extension for Demidov could check in around $8.3MM per season. It wouldn’t be shocking for Montreal to push for an eighth year which could push the price point more towards the $9MM mark. While they play different positions, would they use Hutson’s new $8.85MM AAV as a ceiling for Demidov?
With Demidov having another full season on his contract, this isn’t a must-accomplish item this summer. But if they want to work out a true max-term eight-year deal, they only have until mid-September to get it done. It took Hutson a few days into the regular season to get his eight-year extension in place last year but if the Canadiens and Demidov want to do the same, they’ll have to work something out a little earlier than that.
Add A Second-Line Forward
For years, there has been a consistent need in Montreal. They have Nick Suzuki anchoring their center group and he’s coming off a 101-point year but they need that second center. It’s not going to be Dach. Alex Newhook seems to fit better on the wing than down the middle. Oliver Kapanen had some success with Demidov during the regular season but when the playoffs came around, he was a regular in the press box with Jake Evans spending a lot of time on the second line. Considering that he’s a checking center, it’s safe to say that need still exists.
The problem, as has been the case for several years now, is that demand for a top-six center greatly outweighs the supply of them. Further adding to that challenge is that there isn’t really a top-six pivot available in free agency. Maybe Claude Giroux would fit on a one-year deal if he doesn’t stay in Ottawa but pickings are slim. Meanwhile, the trade prices for those available are justifiably steep. If one becomes available at a price Montreal is okay with, that would solve the problem. But odds being odds, there’s a better chance it doesn’t happen than it does.
While a second-line winger isn’t as good of a fit as a center, that might be the easier way to upgrade the top six. That winger could fit on the first line and either shift Cole Caufield or Juraj Slafkovsky (who played well with Demidov at times in 2025-26) down, giving Demidov an upgraded linemate while opening up some options for the coaching staff. We’ve seen them linked to Toronto’s Matthew Knies; a move like that is an example of what could work. While that would leave them a little thin down the middle still, having two strong wingers mitigates that somewhat while they hope for Michael Hage to be ready to join the team late next season.
The UFA pool isn’t particularly deep here either but generally speaking, the supply of wingers on the trade market is greater than centers. The acquisition cost will still be steep – especially with the prices being paid in recent days – but an imperfect upgrade is still an upgrade. For now, the backup plan might be more realistic to try to accomplish.
Upgrade The Right Side Again
Two years ago, Montreal moved a younger defenseman in Justin Barron to pick up an upgrade on the right side on the back end, acquiring veteran Alexandre Carrier from Nashville. Then, at the draft last year, they moved two first-round picks and Emil Heineman to the Islanders to pick up Dobson. That’s a lot of work to upgrade that side. It might not be done quite yet.
Those two were the only right-shot defenders on the roster for most of the season, resulting in several different rearguards shifting to their off-side. It was Hutson at times, sometimes Kaiden Guhle, and sometimes depth blueliners Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj. Predictably, the results were inconsistent. Hutson fared the best among them but he wasn’t at the level he is on his natural side. Shifting him back to the right shouldn’t be their preferred strategy moving forward.
David Reinbacher, the fifth pick in 2023, has had his development slowed by injuries. While they’re still hopeful that he can be part of the solution relatively soon, at least one more part season in the minors might be best for his development before potentially taking Carrier’s spot (his contract expires next summer) might be ideal.
That creates an opening on either the second or third pairing, one that could be filled short-term or longer-term. They likely would have had interest in Connor Murphy had he made it to the open market as he’d have also filled the box of being someone who could help on the penalty kill. They don’t have to take as big a swing as they did last year but another upgrade on the right side of their defense corps would give them a boost.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Canadiens Acquire #26 From Golden Knights, Select Gleb Pugachyov
The Montreal Canadiens have acquired 26th-overall in the 2026 NHL Draft from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for 28th-overall and Montreal’s third-round pick in 2027. Vegas acquired the pick in an earlier deal that sent winger Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers. The Canadiens used the pick to select Russian winger Gleb Pugachyov.
Pugachyov was one of many standouts at Dan Milstein’s Gold Star Hockey Camp, an annual showcase of Russian draft talent. The winger earned hardy KHL minutes this season thanks to his ability to fill a gritty forechecking role. He made up for slow skating with heavy and overwhelming physicality, while also flaunting the puck skills needed to convert on loose pucks and quick passes.
Those will be the attributes that Montreal moves up to grab. Pugachyov should find solid footing behind Montreal’s slew of high-octane offense. He brings a full-ice physicality that should project into a bottom-six role, at worst. Montreal could find shreds of even more upside as Pugachyov develops his game at the pro level. The club quickly hit on winger Alexander Zharovsky, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft who took home KHL Rookie of the Year honors after a breakout season this year. Like Zharovsky, Pugachyov should find his way into full-time, KHL minutes as soon as next season.
Vegas flipped the 28th-overall pick to the Anaheim Ducks in a deal that pushed them back to 29th-overall.