Brendan Gallagher confirmed Monday morning he played his last game in Montreal. Kent Hughes now has a decision to make, and a buyout might not be the move.
The buyout window across the league opens June 15 or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final, whichever comes later. It closes June 30 at 5 p.m.
That's the obvious path. It's also the expensive one.
A buyout would keep Gallagher on Montreal's books until 2028. He'd carry $3.8M against the cap in 2026-2027 and $1.3M in 2027-2028.
For a team chasing a Cup window with a roster ranked 6th overall at 48-24-10, that's dead money you don't want lingering. The Canadiens scored 283 goals this season. Every dollar matters.
A trade gets cleaner. And there's a buyer who actually wants the cap hit.
Why Vancouver makes too much sense to ignore
The Canucks finished 25-49-8. Dead last in the league at 32nd overall. Their goal differential was brutal: 216 for, 316 against.
Vancouver needs to hit the salary floor, and PuckPedia projections have them roughly $5M short. Absorbing Gallagher's $6.5M cap hit solves that problem in one phone call.
Gallagher himself told reporters in Brossard he'd be open to Vancouver. The interest goes both ways.
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His real salary next year is $4M, not $6.5M. The Canucks ownership pays less in actual dollars than the cap number suggests, which softens the bite considerably.
Gallagher gave Montreal 7 goals and 16 assists in 77 games, plus 2 power play markers. He added a goal in 3 playoff appearances. That's not nothing for a fourth-line presence on a rebuilding roster out west.
Hughes has leverage here. The Canucks' opening day cap math is his bargaining chip. Drop the contract, ask for a mid-round pick or a prospect, and walk away clean.
A buyout closes the book on a Canadiens icon with strings still attached for two years. A trade closes it cleanly. The math is the math.
Whether Vancouver bites at the asking price is another question entirely.
Should Kent Hughes accept a 4th-round pick to move Brendan Gallagher's full contract to Vancouver?
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