Canadiens trade Brendan Gallagher to Canucks for future considerations
The Vancouver Canucks have acquired veteran forward Brendan Gallagher from the Montreal Canadiens for future considerations, Frank Seravalli reported Monday.
Gallagher, 34, collected seven goals and 23 points in 77 games with the Canadiens during the 2025-26 regular season. The 5’9″, 185-pound right wing appeared in just three out of 19 games with the Canadiens over their run to the 2026 Eastern Conference Final.
The Canadiens are retaining 50 percent of Gallagher’s remaining salary in this trade. Gallagher is under contract through the end of the 2026-27 season at a $6.5 million cap hit, meaning he’ll count for $3.25 million against the salary cap for both Montreal and Vancouver.
The Canadiens will not receive anything in return for their former alternate captain, but as Seravalli noted on Monday, the team “wanted to do right by” the well-liked and long-tenured forward.
It's future considerations heading back to #GoHabsGo, who wanted to do right by Brendan Gallagher. Montreal is also retaining half on Gallagher to make it happen.
The Canadiens originally selected Gallagher in the fifth round (No. 147 overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. The Edmonton product played his junior hockey with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and remains popular in the city’s hockey community to this day.
Gallagher established himself as a feisty NHL regular with the Canadiens during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season and recorded his first of five 20-goal seasons two years later. He topped out with 31 and 33 goals in consecutive seasons with the Canadiens in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Near the end of his tenure in Montreal, Gallagher helped the Canadiens embark upon a surprise run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored two goals and six points in 22 games with the Canadiens that spring.
Through 911 career NHL games over 14 seasons with the Canadiens, Gallagher has collected 246 goals and 487 points. He’s added 14 goals and 34 points in 79 career playoff contests.
Earlier on Monday, the Canucks made another move to clear up a spot at the forward position, trading Nils Höglander to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2029 third-round pick. Gallagher should fill the bottom-six spot in Vancouver that Höglander will now vacate.