Right now, it’s been open season to criticize the Montreal Canadiens, no matter how low the bar was set heading into the 2024-25 season. There is so much work to do be done to make the team successful, but one player is proving their value this season, someone who gets lost in the shuffle amidst the praise for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Lane Hutson. Brendan Gallagher is, to be blunt, balling.
Gallagher the Forgotten Man
We all know Gallagher’s there. We know he’s been there since 2012-13. The Edmonton native has only worn a Habs jersey since the franchise drafted him in the fifth round in 2010, and he’s currently the longest-serving member of the team.
There are a few reasons why he might have been overlooked in recent seasons. For one, the team isn’t good. It hasn’t been good since the Stanley Cup Final run in 2021, which was a Cinderella story. By almost any metric, the Canadiens should not have made the Final, and as quickly as the team elevated its game that postseason, it immediately crashed afterward.
When teams fair as poorly as Montreal has in the last three seasons – 55 points in 2021-22, 68 points in 2022-23, and 76 points in 2023-24 – there generally isn’t much to talk about unless one or two players are or become reliable stars. Gallagher, for as much as we will praise him here, is not that.
Moreover, both 2021-22 and 2022-23 were difficult seasons for him due to injuries, which made the contract extension he signed in October 2020 feel all for naught. When pen was put to paper, the rugged attacker became Montreal’s highest-paid forward, earning $6.5 million per campaign. After all, 31 goals in 2017-18, 33 goals in 2018-19, and 22 in an awkwardly interrupted and re-formatted 2019-20 suggested that he was worth every penny. Then came injuries, COVID-19, and overall bad team results.
Gallagher Rises from the Ashes
The hard-nosed winger netted only seven goals in 2021-22 and eight in 2022-23. Again, there were mitigating circumstances, but $6.5 million is a lot of money for those totals. Even the 2023-24 season was far from great. He played 77 games, the most he had in five years, but found the back of the net only 14 times.
All that’s to say, when last season ended, Gallagher simply wasn’t a part of any optimistic Canadiens chatter. The fanbase’s hopes rested on Caufield, Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Hutson. The Patrik Laine trade arguably sent Gallagher even further down the pecking order, which is saying a lot, considering that Laine hadn’t been as productive as he once was. Then came that fateful injury versus the Toronto Maple Leafs in a preseason game.
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Here we are, a month into the season, with the Canadiens sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division (as of Nov. 8). Alex Newhook isn’t playing great. Kirby Dach hasn’t found the form many think he has. Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak are, well, Anderson and Dvorak.
That said, no one can tune into a Montreal contest and say Gallagher isn’t giving his darndest. He’s skating just as hard as he always has. He has a nose for the net that too many Canadiens forwards lack. He’s always fighting for the puck. To top it off, he’s second on the team in goals with six, behind only Caufield’s 10 – Suzuki has four, as does Newhook, although the latter doubled his tally via a brace on Nov. 7 versus the New Jersey Devils.
Gallagher Makes His Linemates Better
Gallagher is also making his linemates look better. As per MoneyPuck, in terms of expected goals and 5-on-5 lines, the Gallagher-Jakes Evans-Anderson line leads the club with 4.7 xGoals for. As an individual, he’s second among Canadiens forwards with an xG of 4.3. For someone who plays four to five minutes less per game than Suzuki and Caufield, he’s still fourth on the team with 3.6 shot attempts per contest.
What does this mean for head coach Martin St. Louis, who needs to find answers soon? It means that, of all the forwards that can bounce up and down the lineup to see what works, Gallagher can arguably give whatever line he’s on the biggest spark. In this instance, we’re assuming that players like Caufield and Suzuki won’t suddenly be downgraded. In other words, any juggling between the fourth and second lines.
One of the major reasons why so little is expected of the current iteration of the Habs is their youth. All the more reason to take advantage of Gallagher’s experience and still very spry playing style. He’s 32, not 52. The man has a solid game. Going forward, most of St. Louis’ new-fangled line combinations to see what works should always consider Gallagher. There are many reasons to be disappointed in Montreal this season, but he’s not one of them.
