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Brendan Gallagher

Canadiens Update Injury Status For Several Players

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As Montreal looks to secure a playoff spot in the North Division, they’re doing so without several of their more prominent veterans who are out of the lineup with various injuries.  The team announced updates on the majority of those players and it appears as if most of them could be back for the postseason.

Goaltender Carey Price has resumed skating as he works his way back from a concussion suffered last month against Edmonton but there remains no timetable for his return.  In the meantime, Jake Allen will continue to shoulder the majority of the workload between the pipes.

Winger Brendan Gallagher has also resumed skating and remains on pace to return within the six-week timeframe listed a month ago when he was diagnosed with a thumb injury.  With the North Division schedule being extended due to their and Vancouver’s COVID-pauses, that could give Gallagher an opportunity to return at the start of the playoffs.  Meanwhile, Paul Byron has missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury.  He remains considered as day-to-day but the team did not indicate that he has resumed skating yet.

Defenseman Shea Weber has missed five straight games with an upper-body injury but has resumed skating and is also listed as day-to-day.

Joining that group of players in the infirmary is center Phillip Danault.  He left Thursday’s game against Toronto in the first period due to an upper-body injury.  He has returned to Montreal for evaluation and as a result, he will not be available for the rematch against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.  Arpon Basu of The Athletic clarifies (Twitter link) that Danault travelled by a car service, allowing him to remain in the bubble and not be subject to a seven-day quarantine to rejoin the team.  If Montreal wants to dress 12 forwards tomorrow, they will have to use an emergency recall on either Michael Frolik or Alex Belzile who are the only two healthy forwards on their taxi squad, a group that also consists of three other injured forwards from the AHL.

The Canadiens are also without winger Jonathan Drouin who was placed on LTIR late last month after taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.  There remains no update on his situation with the team at the time of the announcement asking everyone to respect his privacy.

While it certainly sounds as if some of their veterans should be ready to play if they can make it, there won’t be any immediate help on the horizon as they look to officially clinch a spot in the playoffs.

Injury Notes: Gallagher, Tanev, Eichel, Andersen

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Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin spoke with the media today following the passing of the trade deadline and did not parse words when asked about injured star Brendan Gallagher. Bergevin does not believe that Gallagher has a chance to play prior to the conclusion of the regular season, he openly admitted. This would align with the six-week timeframe that Gallagher received after fracturing his thumb this past week. There was some optimism that Gallagher could return before the Canadiens’ season is currently scheduled to end on May 11, but Bergevin either does not see this as realistic or simply will not rush Gallagher back to play regular season games. With the North Division playoff teams all but set, Montreal faces little risk of missing the postseason so the priority with Gallagher is only to get him as healthy as possible for the playoffs.

  • Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall had similar things to say about one of his own players today. Hextall told the media that the move to acquire Jeff Carter was at least partially influenced by the belief that Brandon Tanev will not play again in the regular season. He stated that Tanev’s upper-body injury, which landed him on Long-Term Injured Reserve, is a “tough injury to judge” but that he does not believe the rugged forward can return before the playoffs. Tanev has been a scoring presence and a physical presence for the Penguins this year and the team will have to replace his output in a number of areas. Fortunately, Hextall at least noted that Kasperi Kapanen is expected back in 10-14 days and Evgeni Malkin is likely to play again before the end of the regular season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres’ season is obviously lost and the team will not rush injured superstar Jack Eichel back into action to play meaningless games. GM Kevyn Adams spoke to the media today and stated that Eichel has not officially been shut down for the year, but he is at least out for a while longer. The superb center has missed 18 games since suffering a neck injury in early March and has only made “slight improvement” in that time per Adams. He did not rule out Eichel playing in some of the Sabres’ final games, but by that point it seems even more unlikely that the team will see any value in putting him back in the lineup.
  • One GM did share some optimism with the media today regarding a key injury. Toronto’s Kyle Dubas made it clear that he does not consider starting goaltender Frederik Andersen to be done for the season. Andersen’s has been struggling with a nagging injury and to this point there has been no timetable for his return. As a result, Dubas made a major addition in net by trading for David Rittich to pair with the red-hot Jack Campbell, but he did not rule out Andersen taking his job back at some point. Dubas did not try to guess as to whether Andersen would be able to return before the end of the regular season or if he would instead be active for the playoffs, but he simply believes that Andersen will play for the Maple Leafs again this year. For the impending free agent, pushing through the pain to get back on the ice may be Andersen’s last chance of suiting up for Toronto again.

Brendan Gallagher Out Six Weeks

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without one of their most important players for the rest of the regular season, as Brendan Gallagher has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a fractured thumb. The Canadiens expect him to miss at least six weeks, which means he won’t be back before the postseason.

Importantly, that means Gallagher’s entire $3.75MM cap hit can essentially be used as room for another deadline upgrade, given the playoffs do not have any cap restraints. Montreal was pressed quite close up against the $81.5MM ceiling after acquiring Eric Staal recently, but now have a little extra wiggle room to play with should GM Marc Bergevin wish to make another addition.

Still, he’d obviously rather have Gallagher in the lineup as the Canadiens try to fight for seeding down the stretch. The 28-year-old forward is the true heart and soul of the team’s forward group and is second on the team in goals this season with 14. His 23 points in 35 games also put him fourth, meaning a huge part of the team’s offensive attack is now missing.

Despite Bergevin’s claims that it would be a quiet deadline for Montreal, there is reason to believe they could add another piece. The team now sits eight points clear of the Vancouver Canucks in the North Division playoff race (one which seems all but concluded) and still has four games at hand on each of the three teams ahead of them. Should the team go on a strong run down the stretch they could easily secure higher seeding or perhaps even home-ice advantage (such as it is) in the first round.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Brendan Gallagher To Six-Year Extension

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So much for all of the perceived drama surrounding the Montreal Canadiens adding right wings Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson on long-term contracts while homegrown star winger Brendan Gallagher was entering the final year of his contract. Montreal’s recent moves apparently have nothing to do with their allegiance to Gallagher and reports that “talks had stalled” were clearly overblown. The team has announced that the two sides have agreed to a six-year, $39MM extension that will begin with the 2021-22 season. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun adds that the contract contains a full No-Movement Clause.

Gallagher, 28, was believed to be heading for free agency next summer for the first time in his career after it appeared that he and the Canadiens were not close on a new contract. Instead, the fan favorite will remain with Montreal through the 2026-27 season at an AAV of $6.5MM. The deal represents a sizeable increase over his current $3.75MM AAV, but it has been well earned. Gallagher played all 82 games and topped 50 points in back-to-back seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. He missed some time this past season, but still managed to record 43 points in 59 games, a 59-point pace over an 82-game season which would have been a career best. Given the offensive improvements that Montreal has made, not only off-season additions but in bringing up talented prospects as well, Gallagher could have 60+ point upside over much of the term of this new contract. That would result in this contract looking like a very fair value.

One concern that Montreal will have with Gallagher’s new deal is durability. Gallagher’s injury absence last season was due to a concussion and post-concussion symptoms, which is worrisome in its own right, but moving forward his 5’9″, 184-lb. frame may not hold up as well as he gets older. Gallagher plays an aggressive game and does not let his size hold him back, but he could be more of an injury risk down the line. With this extension already compensating him at his ceiling, the team hopes that they will get Gallagher at full strength as much as possible. Fortunately, he set a career high in ice time per game last season and shows no signs of slowing down in the immediate future.

The other note on Gallagher’s future in Montreal is of course the impending 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. While this new contract carries a full No-Movement Clause, the extension will not kick in until after expansion. As a result, Gallagher can still be exposed for Seattle to select next summer. The odds are slim that this will occur, but with so much money and term locked up at right wing, the Canadiens could get out from under Gallagher’s contract before it begins in the case of a poor performance this coming season.

 

Snapshots: Gallagher, Champions League, NWHL

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The Montreal Canadiens have broken off talks with Brendan Gallagher for the time being, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The two sides had been working on an extension for the 28-year-old forward, but as LeBrun puts it, “talks have obviously not gone great so far.”

With a year left on his contract, the level of concern for Canadiens fans should still remain pretty low, given Gallagher is the heart-and-soul of the team and brings exactly what GM Marc Bergevin has been after all offseason. Perhaps the additions Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli on long-term deals will complicate things, but with so much time left to get a deal done, it’s hard to see talks not resuming at some point.

  • Champions Hockey League in Europe has decided to cancel their 2020-21 season, due to the impact of the COVID-19 situation. The league, which pits club teams from several different professional leagues against each other, has to deal with travel restrictions between 12 different countries that will make things impossible this year. They do plan on resuming in 2021-22.
  • Dani Rylan Kearney is stepping down as commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League, with Tyler Tumminia taking over on an interim basis. Tumminia was previously set to be the chairperson of the new Toronto Six franchise, but will leave that role according to Marisa Ingemi of The Ice Garden. The league is changing to an operation model of unincorporated association with a board of governors, similar to the structures found in other professional sports. Rylan Kearney will become the president of an independent NWHL ownership group.

Canadiens Working On Extension For Brendan Gallagher

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After getting defenseman Jeff Petry signed to an extension last week, it appears that the Canadiens have set their sights on getting a deal done with Brendan Gallagher next.  Speaking with RDS’ Francois Gagnon, GM Marc Bergevin indicated that they want to keep the winger in Montreal for the rest of his career and that they’re willing to make him the highest-paid forward on the team.  For reference, Jonathan Drouin is the forward with the highest AAV, checking in at $5.5MM.  Bergevin also candidly stated that he knows a four-year or five-year term wouldn’t be enough to dissuade Gallagher from heading to the open market so it would stand to reason that any extension would be longer than that.

While Bergevin only indicated that talks have been preliminary to this point, Gallagher’s agent Gerry Johansson told RDS’ Eric Leblanc that both sides are working hard to get a deal done and are optimistic that they’ll be able to get one accomplished.

The 28-year-old had scored at least 31 goals in each of the last two seasons and played at a 31-goal pace this year as well but injuries and the pandemic made that out of the question.  Even so, he picked up 22 goals and 21 assists in 59 games this season.  One element that Gallagher will have in his favor is his ability to score at even strength as only five of his 55 goals over the past two years have come with the man advantage, a skill that is always highly coveted.

Gallagher has spent the last five years playing on a considerable bargain contract given his production with an AAV of $3.75MM which will remain intact for 2020-21 as he plays out the final year of that deal.  Given Bergevin’s comments, it would seem like Gallagher’s next price tag should come in the $6MM to $7MM range with a term of at least six years.  Even with the flattened cap in place, there’s always a high price tag on goal scoring so even with the potential for a deflated free agent market in 2021, the veteran is well-positioned for his next deal.

Montreal also has two other unrestricted free agents of note for the 2021 offseason in center Phillip Danault and winger Tomas Tatar.  Gagnon notes that preliminary discussions on a new deal for Danault occurred around the time that Petry’s negotiations were ongoing (both are represented by Newport) while no such talks have occurred with Tatar’s camp as of yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Contract Notes: Miller, Thompson, Gallagher

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Ryan Miller may have turned 40 this summer but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s done with a playing career that has him climbing the all-time lists. The Anaheim Ducks backup goaltender is without a contract for next season and will wait to see what the 2020-21 season looks like before making a decision on his future, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Quite succinctly, Miller explained that if the NHL moves to full-season bubbles it wouldn’t be fair to his family for him to sign up and leave for nine months, a notion that is likely shared by many around the league.

Miller is currently 15th on the all-time wins list for NHL goaltenders, just two behind another former Buffalo Sabres legend, Dominik Hasek. That was a player Miller was hoping to catch as recently as May, though it’s still unclear if he’ll get that chance. Even at his age, the veteran of 17 NHL seasons recorded a .907 save percentage in 2019-20, better than many backups around the league.

  • Nate Thompson isn’t put off by the Philadelphia Flyers disappointing playoff loss, in fact, he’s “very interested” in returning to the team next season if possible. Thompson told reporters today that he wants to be a part a “window of winning” that he sees in Philadelphia. The 35-year-old forward was outstanding in the faceoff dot for Philadelphia this postseason, winning more than 60% of his 168 draws. He’s coming off a one-year contract worth $1MM and recorded 15 points in the regular season.
  • Though his contract doesn’t end until 2021, Brendan Gallagher was asked today about his future with the Montreal Canadiens. As he spoke to reporters including Arpon Basu of The Athletic, Gallagher (who is still recovering from a broken jaw), explained that his agent has had preliminary discussions with the team about his next deal. Gallagher, 28, has turned into one of the biggest bargains in the entire league at his current cap hit of $3.75MM, given he has scored 86 goals over his past 223 regular season games (an 82-game pace of nearly 32 goals). Add in all the intangibles he brings to the team, including leadership and his innate ability to get under the opponent’s skin and Gallagher is one of the Canadiens’ most important players.

Snapshots: Stamkos, Gallagher, Slovakia

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With the Tampa Bay Lightning preparing to face the rival Boston Bruins in the second round in a collision of arguably the two best teams in the NHL, the Bolts were hoping to be at full strength with face of the franchise Steven Stamkos back in the lineup. However, that won’t be the case. Head coach Jon Cooper told the media, including The Athletic’s Lightning writer Joe Smith, that Stamkos is still not available due to injury. Rather than reiterating the indefinite timeline of Stamkos’ rehab, Cooper merely stated “It’s pointless to keep asking about it.” Stamkos is still battling a core injury suffered back in March and has far exceeded the initial six-to-eight week timeline with the player and team still seemingly having no idea of when he might be ready to return. If Stamkos cannot return to face Tampa’s potentially toughest test in Boston, the odds are that he may not play in the postseason at all.

  • Fan favorite Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher had his season come to an end prematurely as he suffered a broken jaw on a cross check from Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen in Game Five of the teams’ first round series. Gallagher only ended up missing one game, as the Habs were eliminated by a Game Six loss on Friday night. Meeting with the media today, GM Marc Bergevin updated Gallagher’s status, announcing that he underwent successful surgery in Toronto and is returning to his home in British Columbia today. Additionally, Bergevin revealed that Gallagher had been injured long before his run-in with Niskanen, suffering a hip tear in Montreal’s qualifying round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he played through the injury and it was solely that broken jaw that kept him from playing in the Canadiens’ season finale.
  • Several other recently-eliminated players could be back in action sooner rather than later. Sport SK in Slovakia reports that several members of the Slovakian Tipsport Liga are expecting active NHLers to be acquired via contract or loan to begin working out and playing prior to NHL training camps beginning in November. HK Kosice may have the largest haul still to come, with Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Martin Marincin and Calgary Flames prospect Martin Pospisil to be loaned to the team and Ottawa Senators RFA Christian Jaros and free agent forward Tomas Jurco expected to sign. Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak also has ties to the club, but with the Lighting still alive in the postseason and hoping to sty that way for a while longer, he may not need the early start for next season. Slovan Bratislava, which has already received a handful of prospects on loan, are expecting another in the more high-profile Martin Fehervary, the promising defenseman from the Washington Capitals.

Brendan Gallagher Suffers Broken Jaw

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After taking a hard cross-check from Matt Niskanen, Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has suffered a broken jaw according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Niskanen is having a hearing with the Department of Player Safety for the incident, but no suspension has been given out just yet. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic got word right from the Canadiens GM, as Marc Bergevin confirmed “Gally has a broken jaw.”

There are few players in the NHL that can get under an opponent’s skin like Gallagher, but the 28-year-old isn’t just a pest. He’s also one of the most effective offensive pieces the Canadiens have, as he’s shown this postseason with a league-leading 37 shots on net through nine games. In fact, Gallagher scored a go-ahead goal last night against the Flyers, batting a puck out of the air on the powerplay.

Unfortunately, Lavoie reports that Gallagher will require surgery and is out for the rest of the series against the Flyers. That kind of diagnosis will be taken into account for Niskanen’s suspension, which could potentially take him out for the Flyers as well.

The teams will match-up again tomorrow night for game six, where pleasantries will surely be exchanged early.

Matt Niskanen To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety has some work to do, announcing a scheduled hearing for today with Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen. The hearing concerns an incident from last night’s game, in which Niskanen cross-checked Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher. Niskanen was not penalized on the play, while Gallagher has been scheduled for a CT scan to examine the extent of his injury (though he played the rest of the game).

Flyers fans will not be happy with this decision, at least in the context of the rest of the game. Jesperi Kotkaniemi will not receive any supplementary discipline for his check on Travis Sanheim, which earned him a five-minute major and game misconduct. There will also be nothing from the league on the hit at the end of the game which caused a scrum and three more misconducts.

In an arena with no fans with players isolated from the rest of the world, the Flyers and Canadiens are summoning images of another era of hockey. The two teams combined for 67 penalty minutes last night and now a suspension, but will have to get back on the ice tomorrow night.

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