Brendan Gallagher's contract viewed as the main reason the Canadiens moved on from two key forwards
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Despite his role as a leader and veteran with the Montreal Canadiens, Brendan Gallagher is starting to slow down.
His offensive production has been fairly modest since the start of the season.
But what really hurts is, of course, his heavy contract, which remains in effect until 2027 and weighs heavily on the Canadiens' salary cap at $6.5 million.
Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia left the Montreal Canadiens because of Brendan Gallagher's contract, according to an observer
Let's just say that this situation indeed forced Kent Hughes to let go of two forwards who contributed to the Canadiens' success in 2024-2025, namely Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak.
Both veterans signed contracts as free agents last summer, and it certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing if Dvorak and Armia were still in Montreal.
As reported by Paul Ryan via his X account, the bad contract handed out by Marc Bergevin to Brendan Gallagher five years ago is hurting the team in more ways than one.
"Unfortunately, all of this comes down to Gallagher's bad contract and the lineup spot he is blocking. Without that, Armia (already 7 goals) easily stays at $2.5M for two years, and he helps the penalty kill and, above all, Evans, who can't do anything with a finished player who can no longer keep up on his line."
- Paul Ryan
- Paul Ryan
If you combine the two contracts signed by Armia ($2.5M) and Dvorak ($5.4M), you get a total of $7.9 million.
Kent Hughes could easily have offered them new deals, especially since both players were very interested in staying with the Canadiens.
Even though I've never been a big fan of Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia, the fact remains that they provided solid service last year and, following the injuries to Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, they would have been two reliable options for Martin St-Louis.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 26|2172 ANSWERS Brendan Gallagher's contract viewed as the main reason the Canadiens moved on from two key forwards Which of these two players does the Montreal Canadiens miss the most this season? | ||
| Joel Armia | 698 | 32.1 % |
| Christian Dvorak | 412 | 19 % |
| Both | 450 | 20.7 % |
| None of the two | 612 | 28.2 % |
| List of polls | ||