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Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

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HabsForHire said:
We have already turned. It will only get worse
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Some fans, and lots of media panels, just bitch all the time unless the team is actively sweeping playoff series. It's very detrimental to the team. Reminds me of when I lived in Toronto. It's a cycle:
  • Team announces it will do a stupid thing.
  • Media gets on the bandwagon, says stupid thing will make them win.
  • Fans follow the media, speculate on how much winning there will be.
  • Team wins some, loses some, misses playoffs.
  • Fans bitch about stupid thing now that it is clearly stupid.
  • Media goes on tirades about how stupid the stupid thing is.
  • Media interviews players and bitches at them for being part of stupid thing.
  • Players get fed up at being criticized for management's stupid thing.
  • Players mail it in and want to leave.
  • Team declines.
We can hope Hughes and Gorton will manage the team better but there is no hope that the TVA echo chambers or Antichambre will stop saying stupid things or cease damaging the team. You have to hope that the team management knows more about how likely their moves are to succeed than the media or those of us who chat about those moves, and it may actually be the case now.
 
HabsForHire said:
We have already turned. It will only get worse
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It may get worse. However, fans also have the memory of goldfish, and this isn't the first time they've turned on Gallagher before changing their tune.

The reality is that:

1) Gallagher's contract makes it hard to move him.
2) Even if the results aren't there, the process has been under MSL (strong underlying numbers, including leading the team in xGF/60 and ixG).
3) He's been unbelievably snakebitten all season long.

Management reportedly has a more favourable view of him than the fans (which is a good thing), but it would be pretty stupid for the team to panic move Gallagher. Odds are right now that deal backfires, since Gallagher may be the most snakebit player in the NHL this season.
 
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If we buy him out it would cost us a about 2.1M(average) on the cap for 10 season so I'd be willing to retain 2M on his deal to actually get something for him.
 
I think Gallagher will bounce back next year score 25 to 30. A lot of Habs had bad years this season under DD. Gallagher been better under MSL
 
danyhabsfan said:
If we buy him out it would cost us a about 2.1M(average) on the cap for 10 season so I'd be willing to retain 2M on his deal to actually get something for him.
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But you might as well wait as long as you can. We don't need the capspace while rebuilding so there's no reason to not just wait it out until we actually need the capspace and then buy him out unless there's a serious value on the trade market which seems doubtful.
 
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Still can't believe the stupidity to try and score on an empty net twice without crossing over the red line. 6.5 million to be a vet "presence" when he's selfish with his ridiculous no angle shot and trying to pad stats over a team win. Better pray for a Dustin Brown-like bounceback.
 
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danyhabsfan said:
If we buy him out it would cost us a about 2.1M(average) on the cap for 10 season so I'd be willing to retain 2M on his deal to actually get something for him.
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For all his declining attributes, he actually is snakebit too, and a non biased person would clearly be able to see that with the way he's playing. He has not declined to the point where his 4 goals in 37 games is the expectation.

Secondly, this might be his longest stretch since the middle of last season, where he has been playing relatively healthy. His form is trending upward, and maybe it's an indication that he is just now starting to feel better after about one year.

Thirdly, if Gallagher is aware of his increasing limitations, he needs time to evolve his game. I look to the tampa version of Ryan Callahan, who was a smaller, rugged player that no longer was worth his contract from an offensive standpoint, but he still brought value to the team in other areas. Gallagher has the tools to be that guy.

This is all to say that it's too early to make a bold decision such as to buy him out. He probably will become better barring further injury setbacks, and I don't think it's wise to make such decisions until you know exactly what you have.

He likely won't ever live up to that contract, but that's a Moot point now because it's a sunk cost. It also doesn't mean that Gallagher can't boost his value from where he is today, and be a decent contributor to this club. Buying him out now would be terrible asset management.
 
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He has 6.5m due to him until 2026-2027 and has a 6-team no trade clause. He cannot be waived because he has a NMC. He is on pace for 28 points in a 82 game season and currently has 41 GP 5 G and 14 Pts. He has had injury issues. Last year in the playoffs he had 6 points in 22 games, his career playoff PPG is 0.43 and that's a 36 point/season pace.

His contract doesn't have any bonuses but his true wage goes up to 8m in 2023-2024 and 9m in 2024-2025.

In short: his contract is a disaster.

What do we do?
 
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ExpatHabs said:
He has 6.5m due to him until 2026-2027 and has a 6-team no trade clause. He cannot be waived because he has a NMC. He is on pace for 28 points in a 82 game season and currently has 41 GP 5 G and 14 Pts. He has had injury issues. Last year in the playoffs he had 6 points in 22 games, his career playoff PPG is 0.43 and that's a 36 point/season pace.

His contract doesn't have any bonuses but his true wage goes up to 8m in 2023-2024 and 9m in 2024-2025.

In short: his contract is a disaster.

What do we do?
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I think the best option is to find some GMs out there who could have a man-crush on Gallagher like Bergevin did and try to take a bad contract in return with less term.

Just throwing out a couple options:

NYI - Lamorielo loves grinders and gritty players, perhaps something around Gallagher and Palmieri could work given he's struggled there.
EDM - Holland is a disaster, given he gave huge term to Hyman perhaps he could take Gallagher too. They have contracts with shorter term to guys like Kassian, Barrie or Ceci that could come back.

Another option could be a team like Pittsburgh who have a few years left to go all in. Maybe they could do something around one of their Ds with lots of term left on their deals like Petterrson or Matheson (former Hughes client) for Gally.
 
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It's maybe worth mentioning that we went through this exact same "debate" earlier on with Gallagher. After his ELC he signed a 6 year deal, and year 2 was a down year with 29 points in 64 games, after having 40 in 53 the year before. And all the same things were being said about how long term deal for a player his size and style was a mistake because he's always going to be injured and will be out of the league within a couple years, won't be able to adjust his game because he lacks skill, etc... Yes he's older now and the contract is for a larger % of the cap, but people have been saying and doubting Gallagher all his life, so I wouldn't be too quick to bet against him rebounding and being a useful player. Gionta was another guy who was supposedly finished due to injuries when he left MTL and was much older, yet he still had some decent seasons in Buffalo. Markov came back from injuries and was still a top D-man. In the end there's no need to rush a decision about him.

If Gallagher can rebound into being a 20 goal 35-40 point player he won't be worth his salary but he also won't be worth trading for another team's garbage contract either. And as mentioned before, his contract is buyout friendly, so the worst case isn't that bad a situation anyways. Now if there's a team that thinks Gallagher is a playoff warrior and is willing to give up something of value then yeah take it and run, there's just no need to worry about him or rush to do something. It's not a disaster, it's not an anchor, it's not going to stop us from doing anything we will want to do short or long term.
 
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CHwest said:
He needs to drop the schtick and concentrate on hockey. So frustrating to watch his antics.
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He's gonna be ok. MSL will bring the best of him, he can do miracles. I think Gally is wasting some energy on useless things, MSL will make Gally focus on the right things. That's my optimistic point of view for tonight. I can be wrong but I can be right.
 
Catanddogguitarrr said:
He's gonna be ok. MSL will bring the best of him, he can do miracles. I think Gally is wasting some energy on useless things, MSL will make Gally focus on the right things. That's my optimistic point of view for tonight. I can be wrong but I can be right.
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MSL is many things but im sure he cant grant miracles.
 
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Sorinth said:
It's maybe worth mentioning that we went through this exact same "debate" earlier on with Gallagher. After his ELC he signed a 6 year deal, and year 2 was a down year with 29 points in 64 games, after having 40 in 53 the year before. And all the same things were being said about how long term deal for a player his size and style was a mistake because he's always going to be injured and will be out of the league within a couple years, won't be able to adjust his game because he lacks skill, etc... Yes he's older now and the contract is for a larger % of the cap, but people have been saying and doubting Gallagher all his life, so I wouldn't be too quick to bet against him rebounding and being a useful player. Gionta was another guy who was supposedly finished due to injuries when he left MTL and was much older, yet he still had some decent seasons in Buffalo. Markov came back from injuries and was still a top D-man. In the end there's no need to rush a decision about him.

If Gallagher can rebound into being a 20 goal 35-40 point player he won't be worth his salary but he also won't be worth trading for another team's garbage contract either. And as mentioned before, his contract is buyout friendly, so the worst case isn't that bad a situation anyways. Now if there's a team that thinks Gallagher is a playoff warrior and is willing to give up something of value then yeah take it and run, there's just no need to worry about him or rush to do something. It's not a disaster, it's not an anchor, it's not going to stop us from doing anything we will want to do short or long term.
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I like your positive attitude, so let's try the Gionta experiment again and ship him somewhere else to observe if he bounces back! :cool:
 
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Silver lining: buying out Gallagher’s contract after next year is “only” a 2.7m cap hit. So it’s not the worst or ugliest buyout…
 
Paddyjack said:
I like your positive attitude, so let's try the Gionta experiment again and ship him somewhere else to observe if he bounces back! :cool:
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We didn't ship Gionta we let his contract run out despite his lower production, you sure we want to go down the Gionta route?
 
Sorinth said:
It's maybe worth mentioning that we went through this exact same "debate" earlier on with Gallagher. After his ELC he signed a 6 year deal, and year 2 was a down year with 29 points in 64 games, after having 40 in 53 the year before. And all the same things were being said about how long term deal for a player his size and style was a mistake because he's always going to be injured and will be out of the league within a couple years, won't be able to adjust his game because he lacks skill, etc... Yes he's older now and the contract is for a larger % of the cap, but people have been saying and doubting Gallagher all his life, so I wouldn't be too quick to bet against him rebounding and being a useful player. Gionta was another guy who was supposedly finished due to injuries when he left MTL and was much older, yet he still had some decent seasons in Buffalo. Markov came back from injuries and was still a top D-man. In the end there's no need to rush a decision about him.

If Gallagher can rebound into being a 20 goal 35-40 point player he won't be worth his salary but he also won't be worth trading for another team's garbage contract either. And as mentioned before, his contract is buyout friendly, so the worst case isn't that bad a situation anyways. Now if there's a team that thinks Gallagher is a playoff warrior and is willing to give up something of value then yeah take it and run, there's just no need to worry about him or rush to do something. It's not a disaster, it's not an anchor, it's not going to stop us from doing anything we will want to do short or long term.
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I tend to agree with your point. Plus the summer was short for a player that gives it all. He'll have plenty of time to recover this summer, no need to take a decision now.
 
I doubt there are takers. Thing is Gallagher is tired, he didn't have time at all to train after last year's run, and all of the other playoff rounds he played. Training is his specialty, he's hardworking, he'll make the best out of his time this summer. I bet he'll have a come back season next year. Remember Marty St-Louis too had a bad season after signing his big contract. Obviously this is a dangerous long term contract Bergevin gave him and I wish he didn't, but you have to keep looking at the bright side otherwise everything will turn dark. Hence I bet on Gallagher.
 
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