Canadiens In Advanced Trade Talks On Brendan Gallagher

Brendan Gallagher made one thing very clear once Montreal's season was over, he won't be a Canadien next year.

The pesky winger was healthy scratched numerous times down the stretch and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and despite his fanfare in Montreal, Gallagher is going to be on the move this summer. While a buyout is an option with just one year left, at $6.5 million AAV, it turns out general manager Kent Hughes is working the phones trying to facilitate a trade.

On a recent episode of Daily Faceoff Live, insider David Pagnotta shed some light on the situation, that is very likely going to wind up with Gallagher being traded to the Vancouver Canucks.

David Pagnotta: I think they’re going to explore moving him first, and if that’s an avenue that they can pursue and go in that direction, I think they’d rather do that than go the buyout route.

It’s an option, but I don’t think they want to execute it. I think they’d rather go the trade avenue and go from there. We know we mentioned Vancouver, and that would be a good spot for him. We’ll see if the Canucks reciprocate in terms of interest. We know what they’re doing, we know they’re going through a rebuild, and Jake DeBrusk is, as far as I know, still wanting to go to a contender and doesn’t want to be part of a rebuild.

Could a DeBrusk/Gallagher trade worth for both sides? Montreal would have to add a prospect in to get the Canucks to bite, but at the end of the day, the Canadiens' winger won't be back next season and prefers to be a Canuck.

Now we wait to see if a deal goes down as early as the NHL Draft in Buffalo in a couple of weeks.

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images