The Montreal Canadiens have a leadership vacancy to fill after trading Brendan Gallagher to the Vancouver Canucks this offseason, and Martin St. Louis has a few strong candidates to consider.
Gallagher’s exit closes the book on a long run in Montreal. The Canadiens selected him in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Draft, and he went on to spend 14 seasons with the club. Even though it was a difficult move, the team no longer had a regular lineup spot for him, and both sides ended up finding a path forward.
Now the attention shifts to the alternate captain spot Gallagher held since the 2014-15 season. Nick Suzuki is expected to remain the Canadiens captain, a role he has had since the 2022-23 season. That leaves Mike Matheson as the lone alternate captain for now, after taking on that responsibility in 2023-24.
St. Louis has options, though, and some of them make a lot of sense.
Lane Hutson is one name that jumps out immediately. He has emerged as the leader on the blue line and one of the top players on the roster.
The only question is whether Montreal wants to stay with the recent pattern of using one defenseman and one forward as alternates over the past four seasons. If that remains the plan, Hutson may not be the choice.
Up front, Cole Caufield looks like the cleanest fit. He followed his breakout season with 50+ goals and the Lady Byng Trophy, and his chemistry with Suzuki has only strengthened his standing within the group. That kind of production and presence makes him a natural candidate for a leadership role.
Juraj Slafkovsky is another strong possibility. He posted 73 points, set career highs with 30 goals and 43 assists, and bumped his ice time up by more than a minute per game.
He also brings plenty of experience on the international stage, including a strong Olympic showing for Slovakia with four goals and four assists in six games. At 22, he’s already logged a lot of hockey, and he has the profile of a player who could wear the letter.
There’s also the possibility that Montreal doesn’t stop at one replacement. The Canadiens have used just two alternate captains in each of the last four seasons, but that doesn’t lock them into the same setup.
St. Louis could spread the responsibility around and even rotate the “A” between home and away games.
However Montreal decides to handle it, the most likely outcome is that one of Hutson, Caufield or Slafkovsky steps into Gallagher’s place. For St. Louis, it’s a good problem to have.
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The exact nature of the news remains unclear, with no confirmations yet from the club. Still, sources indicate something could break early in the week, giving Canadiens fans a fresh point of attention before the calendar turns fully toward the next phase of team business. [Read more 🡒]