“The Bruins need a second-line right-winger.”
“The Bruins need a physical presence.”
Why not kill two birds with one stone?
With the Feb. 24 NHL Trade Deadline fast approaching, many teams around the league are going to have to decide if they want to be buyers or sellers. While Boston is a buyer with reasonable certainty, its archrival is in the aforementioned state of uncertainty about the 2019-20 season.
With 21 games remaining, the Montreal Canadiens are sixth in the Wild Card race, nine points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers –– who have two games in hand. While it is uncertain if Montreal is a clear-cut seller at this year’s deadline, they very well should be fielding offers for their most attractive assets.
That includes eight-year veteran winger and Alberta native, Brendan Gallagher.
In 51 games, Gallagher has 19 goals and 18 assists to go along with a Corsi-for percentage of 63.2 percent.
But why would Boston be willing to not only trade with the Canadiens but trade for a player that has been so hated by both their team and the fan base?
In short, he checks off both boxes that the Bruins need: a wing who can slide in on Krejci’s right, and a guy who isn’t afraid to play on the edge.
Starting on offense, Brandon Gallagher has a Corsi-for percentage of 63.2 percent. This essentially means that, at five-one-five, the Canadiens are generating more offense, at least from a shooting standpoint, when he’s on the ice. Gallagher would rank first on the Bruins.
On top of that, Gallagher has 52.5 expected goals-for, which would also rank first on the Bruins.
Gallagher would also rank first on the Bruins in expected goals-for per 60 (3.7), first in Corsi-for per 60 (79.1), third in high-damage chances-for percentage (65.8), fourth in goals (19), and sixth in points (37).
While his 31.9 expected goals against would be tied with Jake DeBrusk for 12th-worst on the Bruins, that can likely be attributed to a Canadiens defense that has been plagued with injuries throughout the season.
But that’s not the only thing Gallagher brings to the table, as he’s been known to be an agitator over the years.
This year has seen the 27-year-old take a step back on hitting the opposition, as he’s on pace for just 62 hits –– less than half his career-high of 126 that he set last season. However, the Alberta native has always been known for getting under the skin of opposing players, something Brad Marchand has grown very good at despite not registering a lot of hits every night.
Gallagher checks off both boxes — especially the physicality box, despite being just 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds.
The one area that could complicate things is the contract that Gallagher has. His cap hit for this season is $3.75 million and the Bruins have an estimated $2.39 million in cap space. The Bruins could try to unload a portion of David Backes’s contract (adjusted cap hit of $4.925 million), but it’s highly unlikely a rebuilding team like Montreal would be interested in that.
However, a deal revolving around Danton Heinen ($2.8 million this year and next) and perhaps a mid-round pick could maybe get Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin thinking. After all, Gallagher is under control for the same cap hit in 2020-21, as well.
Is Montreal likely to deal with Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins? No. However, it’s never impossible, and if the Bruins want to both improve their second-line right-wing position and add an agitator, Brendan Gallagher should be towards the top of their list of trade targets.
Boston has reportedly scouted Canadiens winger Ilya Kovalchuk recently, so what’s adding Gallagher to that list going to do?
