Yup. Gallagher is too important to the team to let him walk. Obviously if signing him proves impossible, he must be traded for similarly valued assets. It's kind of funny how every time we hear rumblings contract wise, the first reaction is "trade that bum!". An awful lot of you sound like that guy who says "I don't understand why girls don't like me, I'm a nice guy!" Followed by "you're not that hot anyways". Like seriously, take your emotions out of this equation and look at what Gallagher has meant for this team since he's been here. This guy is everything the Canadiens currently stand for. They simply won't allow him to leave unless he specifically insists on being traded. What a farce some of your responses are.
For everyone else who is not so delusional, kudos.
To preface my response, I am a Gallagher fan and prefers he stays.
Let’s take your own advice and remove emotions from this. We are up against the cap with two key 2021 UFAs in Gallagher and Danault. We also have upcoming UFAs Tatar and Armia as well as Lehkonen and Mete who will be RFAs.
I understand not all will be kept, but 5 of those 6 are going to be asking for a fair sum of money.
Then there’s Kotkaniemi who will also be a RFA. His next contract will really depend on how the season goes.
So, removing emotions and strictly looking at it money wise, it’s probably going to be hard keeping Gallagher if he’s asking $6.5m+ more than 5 years. We got Suzuki needing a raise in a couple years and if we bridge Kotkaniemi and he breaks out, he’s another who may get paid.
Ideally we move Drouin, shift Toffoli to LW (I believe he can play this side) and keep Gallagher, but if he’s asking for a 7 year $49m deal, I dunno, that is tough as the very same concerns about Anderson apply to Gallagher; his play style is not the type where these players age gracefully,
