Player Discussion Brendan Gallagher: all heart, no hands

[ReHabs]

It would have make sense, back then. If we have critics to make about former management, they never had a coherent plan. Back then, there was no way anyone could have predicted a SCF the next year...

Yeah exactly. At the moment of the extension it was a bad decision in the 2020 offseason, considering Gallagher’s mileage and the eventual cap hit. Much better to sell him for a boatload of assets from Oilers, Leafs, Vegas, Bruins, or any other cap strapped ambitious team. A full year of Gallagher at 3.75, oh boy that’s so attractive. Could probably get a top prospect and a first and who knows what else.

Even at the 2020 trade deadline, I probably would’ve wanted Bergevin to sell sell sell because of how inconsistent they were playing and I would’ve wanted Ducharme fired or only given a one year extension because he didn’t get any consistency going. Selling Gallagher would’ve meant selling Tatar and Danault. That’s a boatload of returning assets and, in exchange, I would’ve secured a higher draft pick. My rationale would’ve been that this Habs team wasn’t capable of scoring many goals and didn’t have a good enough D (recall Price was playing bad and Weber was crazy slow and frustrating the fans). Kotkaniemi would’ve gotten a lot more minutes too with Danault gone and it would’ve informed both sides more of how they feel about the relationship.

My feeling was the team didn’t prove themselves to be worth trusting for a deep run. Of course, I turned out to be wrong.

If it got to the UFA period I would’ve offered 5x5 and that’s it. The sixth year is killer and his injuries would’ve meant i wouldn’t ever get my money’s worth to begin with.

But yes I concede that it is hard to envision losing Gallagher for nothing but we lost Danault and Tatar for nothing…

 

[ReHabs]

Ummm so you are supposed to pay for future performance? Worked well with Anderson so far...

He was fine most of last season, heck he was on pace to match his career high of 33 goals over 82 games.

Anderson isn’t exactly a good contract because he was so unproven but he’s worth the risk and gamble a lot more than Gallagher’s contract from 29-35

 

[beowulf]

Anderson isn’t exactly a good contract because he was so unproven but he’s worth the risk and gamble a lot more than Gallagher’s contract from 29-35

Guess we have to disagree on that. Anderson is so overrated around here.

 

[ReHabs]

Guess we have to disagree on that. Anderson is so overrated around here.

I agree he is overrated and overpaid but it’s one of those contracts I would’ve lamented least because it at least is a gamble into the sort of element that is rare and can change a game or a series of games on its head.

Thing is I wouldn’t have given that deal because his CV was so short and scant. But Bergevin gambled on him and it was one of his more reasonable gambles — a risk none the less.

 

[LaP]

Ummm so you are supposed to pay for future performance? Worked well with Anderson so far...

He was fine most of last season, heck he was on pace to match his career high of 33 goals over 82 games.

No you usually pay for past performance but you usually try to pay for the big picture and not career years before a new contract. I used to like Gallagher a lot but those 30 goals seasons were not going to last his career average is 25 goals every 82 games (so around 22-23 goals in a normal season with some mild injuries/virus). He also doesn't possess the skills of a perennial 30+ goals scorer. At 6.5 millions you really want someone who can bring 30 goals and 60 points on a regular basis (over 82 games) for the duration of the contract. A down year or two is fine but i'd be surprised of Gallagher hits a 30 goals pace for more than 1 year or two of his current 6 years contract. This year is the first year (year 1/6) of his new contract.

 

[GrandBison]

Yeah exactly. At the moment of the extension it was a bad decision in the 2020 offseason, considering Gallagher’s mileage and the eventual cap hit. Much better to sell him for a boatload of assets from Oilers, Leafs, Vegas, Bruins, or any other cap strapped ambitious team. A full year of Gallagher at 3.75, oh boy that’s so attractive. Could probably get a top prospect and a first and who knows what else.

Even at the 2020 trade deadline, I probably would’ve wanted Bergevin to sell sell sell because of how inconsistent they were playing and I would’ve wanted Ducharme fired or only given a one year extension because he didn’t get any consistency going. Selling Gallagher would’ve meant selling Tatar and Danault. That’s a boatload of returning assets and, in exchange, I would’ve secured a higher draft pick. My rationale would’ve been that this Habs team wasn’t capable of scoring many goals and didn’t have a good enough D (recall Price was playing bad and Weber was crazy slow and frustrating the fans). Kotkaniemi would’ve gotten a lot more minutes too with Danault gone and it would’ve informed both sides more of how they feel about the relationship.

My feeling was the team didn’t prove themselves to be worth trusting for a deep run. Of course, I turned out to be wrong.

If it got to the UFA period I would’ve offered 5x5 and that’s it. The sixth year is killer and his injuries would’ve meant i wouldn’t ever get my money’s worth to begin with.

But yes I concede that it is hard to envision losing Gallagher for nothing but we lost Danault and Tatar for nothing…

And you have to think that if you trade 27yo Gallagher, your offense rely on Domi, who had a tough year, Drouin, Tatar, an unproven Suzuki and a Laval Rocket KK...

 

[GrandBison]

No you usually pay for past performance but you usually try to pay for the big picture and not career years before a new contract. I used to like Gallagher a lot but those 30 goals seasons were not going to last his career average is 25 goals every 82 games (so around 22-23 goals in a normal season with some mild injuries/virus). He also doesn't possess the skills of a perennial 30+ goals scorer. At 6.5 millions you really want someone who can bring 30 goals and 60 points on a regular basis (over 82 games) for the duration of the contract. A down year or two is fine but i'd be surprised of Gallagher hits a 30 goals pace for more than 1 year or two of his current 6 years contract. This year is the first year (year 1/6) of his new contract.

They maybe envision a kind of Marchand effect on Gallagher... They will be wrong, but I don't believe neither that Gally is done as a 20 goals scorer, which you will need anyway on your second line.

 

[beowulf]

No you usually pay for past performance but you usually try to pay for the big picture and not career years before a new contract. I used to like Gallagher a lot but those 30 goals seasons were not going to last his career average is 25 goals every 82 games (so around 22-23 goals in a normal season with some mild injuries/virus). He also doesn't possess the skills of a perennial 30+ goals scorer. At 6.5 millions you really want someone who can bring 30 goals and 60 points on a regular basis (over 82 games) for the duration of the contract. A down year or two is fine but i'd be surprised of Gallagher hits a 30 goals pace for more than 1 year or two of his current 6 years contract. This year is the first year (year 1/6) of his new contract.

Not sure if he hits 30 again even though he had the pace last year. I do think his contract was a little excessive but when MB said he wanted to make him the highest paid forward I knew it would not be good. Actually I think Anderson's contract would have been better for him.

 

[LaP]

They maybe envision a kind of Marchand effect on Gallagher... They will be wrong, but I don't believe neither that Gally is done as a 20 goals scorer, which you will need anyway on your second line.

I don't believe he is done as a 20 goals scorer either. But 6.5 for 20 goals is let's just say too much. 5 to 5.5 would be okay. The duration doesn't help either considering his age. If it was 6.5 over 4 years it would not be as bad. I think Gallagher's career will look more like Lucic than Marchand. Lucic scored 30 goals once and between 20-25 for most of his 20ies and then ...

 

[Habs Halifax]

The Gallagher we have come to know from the past shows his value on the ice working hard. The Gallagher this season under a bloated contract seems to be a massive shift where he is speaking a lot off the ice. Put your head down Gallagher and get back to working hard. Work hard, say little, smile . Get back to what got you to this point.

 

[GrandBison]

I don't believe he is done as a 20 goals scorer either. But 6.5 for 20 goals is let's just say too much. 5 to 5.5 would be okay. The duration doesn't help either considering his age. If it was 6.5 over 4 years it would not be as bad. I think Gallagher's career will look more like Lucic than Marchand. Lucic scored 30 goals once and between 20-25 for most of his 20ies and then ...

Agree, still, it's only 1.5M... the real head scratcher is adding long term Hoffman... Now that's a panic move.

 

[beowulf]

The Gallagher we have come to know from the past shows his value on the ice working hard. The Gallagher this season under a bloated contract seems to be a massive shift where he is speaking a lot off the ice. Put your head down Gallagher and get back to working hard. Work hard, say little, smile . Get back to what got you to this point.

With Weber out and all that I think he is trying to take a more proactive leadership role with the team.

 

[ReHabs]

With Weber out and all that I think he is trying to take a more proactive leadership role with the team.

He’s led the Habs alright, to last place.

 

[beowulf]

He’s led the Habs alright, to last place.

ohh please.

 

[BLONG7]

He’s led the Habs alright, to last place.

That's on the clown GM who was fired....

 

[ReHabs]

ohh please.

I don't see the point of praising intangibles when they're literally intangible. Why even allude to the leadership of a player who is on pace for less than 30 points in a full season and is on the worst team in the league? I mean... come on.

Didn't we have enough of that breathless hype during the Weber's Aura era? Until the literally last season of Weber's career the Habs didn't win a single playoff round during the Weber's Aura era. If it wasn't "Weber's Fault" (which, obviously, I can accept) then why did he get so much credit for his leadership? How do you quantify leadership? How do you qualify leadership? It can't be only one way -- you can't just give credit and praise and hype and then have no way to point to any instance of it revealing itself as a tangible thing, much less something that has a measurable value.

Same goes for Gallagher, imo. Gallagher's trying to be a bigger leader this season... that's why he's personally having the worst year of his career, his coach and GM got fired due to bad results, the team checked out and surrendered many games without even trying, the team gets scored on and deflates, etc.? Come on.

I'm a manager of a small team of 4 people (consulting), it is extremely clear to me when I've done a good job at leadership/management -- things move faster, people perform better, morale is higher, the client is happier... there are returns. When I don't do a good job, it's quite clear too -- people get confused (even in a small team), there is cross-talk, there is back-talk, the client gets mixed messages, etc. Leadership is a vector, it goes toward success. It isn't an intangible and abstract concept that just floats around totally disattached from the material world.

If Gallagher is a good leader, then leadership is a miniscule variable in the greater success of a team given that this team is dead last or near to it.

 

[Gaud]

I would have traded him at the 2020 deadline personally. His value back then with 1 year remaining of a team friendly contract was vastly superior to what he was going to bring during his next contract. Since we were a bottom team back then it was making lot of sense to move him for a king's ransom.

thats fine in retrospect, but it wasn't as obvious back then that BG was on the edge of having his body break down. We all knew it was coming - his style is rough on a body his side - but he had just finished a season with Tatar and Danault. It wasn't as obvious as now that his best days are over.

I also dont think MB could have traded Gallagher - he was the "heart and soul" player, next captain, etc. There would have been an uproar.

I think BG's offseason training will be key. He seems to be winded after 45 second shifts. I read that Chara had to adhere to a strict diet and workout regimen axed on endurance (over strength) to extend his carreer when it was clear he wasnt keeping up as easily. I get the feeling BG shoudl do the same.

 

[nilan30]

I think if you're a veteran guy like Gallagher and to a lesser extent Anderson whose bread and butter and success comes from playing hard, physical, going to tough areas, always putting your body on the line etc, doing it consistently in a season that was lost after 15 games is pretty damn tough. I think we will see a bounce back next year unless again the team comes out of the gate terribly and are out of the running very early.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Gallagher has a history of being hardest worker on this team. Pretty good chance he will turn his career around.

A full summer of training should do him wonder.

 

[nhlfan9191]

If Andrew Shaw was able to come back and have positive value again it's not out of the realm of possibility that Gallagher might regain his goal-scoring.

Andrew Shaw had much less money, less term, and most importantly a tie to the team we traded him too. Completely different situation.

 

[LaP]

thats fine in retrospect, but it wasn't as obvious back then that BG was on the edge of having his body break down. We all knew it was coming - his style is rough on a body his side - but he had just finished a season with Tatar and Danault. It wasn't as obvious as now that his best days are over.

I also dont think MB could have traded Gallagher - he was the "heart and soul" player, next captain, etc. There would have been an uproar.

I think BG's offseason training will be key. He seems to be winded after 45 second shifts. I read that Chara had to adhere to a strict diet and workout regimen axed on endurance (over strength) to extend his carreer when it was clear he wasnt keeping up as easily. I get the feeling BG shoudl do the same.

Maybe not obvious for Gallagher but there's was 0 chances MB was going to have the cap space to sign all his upcoming UFA after 2021 while at the same time improving the team. He had to trade 1 minimum and likely 2 to be able to fit them under the cap and be active to fill holes. It was crystal clear he was going to lose between 1 and 2 UFA after the 2020-2021 season if he was making moves to improve the team which he did in the summer of 2020. Since we had a bad team at the deadline 2020 it was only logical to trade 2 UFAs and rebuild considering the situation the team was in. Maybe MB was hoping they would all sign team friendly contract to help him but it was certainly not a great strategy mid or long term. Tatar was an obvious one the other was between Petry, Danault and Gallagher.

 

[Miller Time]

Sad to see how bad he is this year...


Was obviously a terrible contract the moment MB offered it, but I thought we'd get at least 2-3yrs of decent top 6 play.


I hope a full summer of rest allows him to return with a decent year next season.... if only for his own sake, regardless of wether we can then offload him rather than eventually buying him out or burying him when we need that cap space

 

[Tetragrammaton]

He’s fallen off a cliff, his goals are mostly garbage clean up goals and his assists are usually lucky garbage. 5 more seasons at 6.5 mil oufffff

Exactly like the Plekanec situation but even worse

 

[BLONG7]

The Gallagher we have come to know from the past shows his value on the ice working hard. The Gallagher this season under a bloated contract seems to be a massive shift where he is speaking a lot off the ice. Put your head down Gallagher and get back to working hard. Work hard, say little, smile . Get back to what got you to this point.

I hope there is a mirror at his house, for him to look at this offseason.
I hope he can get back some of his results....if not we have him for 5 more years at a bloated contract, and will show he does not even belong in the league at 2M per. The little engine that could, better rebound.

 

[RealityBytes]

Gallagher is an albatros that that will be sucking up cap space for for five years.