The Vancouver Canucks have added Brendan Gallagher, landing the veteran forward from the Montreal Canadiens in a deal for future considerations, Frank Seravalli reported Monday.
Montreal is retaining 50 percent of Gallagher’s remaining salary, which leaves both teams carrying a $3.25 million cap hit. Gallagher is signed through the end of the 2026-27 season at a $6.5 million cap hit.
The Canadiens will not get anything back in the trade, but Seravalli noted Monday that the organization “wanted to do right by” the well-liked forward who spent his entire NHL career in Montreal before this move.
Gallagher, 34, produced seven goals and 23 points in 77 games during the 2025-26 regular season. He also appeared in just three of Montreal’s 19 games during its run to the 2026 Eastern Conference Final.
Montreal drafted Gallagher in the fifth round, No. 147 overall, in 2010. The Edmonton product played junior hockey with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and still carries plenty of recognition in Vancouver’s hockey circles.
His rise with the Canadiens began during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, when he became a rugged, reliable NHL regular. Two years later, he recorded the first of five 20-goal seasons. He then hit his peak with back-to-back seasons of 31 and 33 goals in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Gallagher was also part of Montreal’s unexpected run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where the Canadiens fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He finished that postseason with two goals and six points in 22 games.
Across 911 career NHL games, all with Montreal, Gallagher has 246 goals and 487 points. He has also posted 14 goals and 34 points in 79 playoff games.
The source also notes that Gallagher should fill the bottom-six spot in Vancouver that Höglander will now vacate.
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