NHL trade rumors: 3 teams who should trade for Brendan Gallagher

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Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Stephane Dube /Getty Images) /

According to the latest NHL trade rumors, Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher could be on the trade block. Which teams would make sense for him?

The Montreal Canadiens have made some big moves this offseason. So far, they’ve traded for Jake Allen and Josh Anderson, plus they signed Tyler Toffoli in free agency. Even though the Habs did have to give up Max Domi to get Anderson, it’s not a stretch to say Montreal’s better today than they were at the start of the offseason. But according to the latest NHL trade rumors, there’s some drama brewing.

Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher is the engine that makes the Habs go. Shea Weber might be the captain, but Gallagher’s the heart and soul of the Canadiens. He has one year left on his deal. As recently as two weeks ago, the two sides were negotiating.

But according to TSN, those negotiations have gone south. This has sparked some trade speculation.

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If Gallagher hits the market, he’ll be a sought after asset for several reasons. First of all, he’s a very good player. He’s hit at least 40 points in six of his last seven seasons. In two of those seasons, Gallagher hit 50 points. Gallagher is one of the NHL’s most consistent and prolific play drivers, especially on offense.

Secondly, his contract is ridiculously good. While Gallagher only has one year left on his contract, his $3.75 million cap hit is dirt cheap. And it gets better – he’s only due $1 million of salary for the 2020-21 season.

The Canadiens probably won’t trade Gallagher. After all, general manager Marc Bergevin‘s job very well might depend on how the Habs do this season. But if he’s on the market, expect a lot of teams to show interest in him.

Here are the three teams who would make the most sense for Gallagher should he be traded.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have to replace Tyler Toffoli in their top-six forward group. Gallagher would be a very nice fit. Reportedly, the Canucks would like to make one more big splash after trading for Nate Schmidt and Gallagher would make quite a bit of sense for them.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been big-game hunting this offseason. They cleared a ton of cap space to try and recruit Taylor Hall to join the Blue Jackets. Ultimately, their attempt fell short, but the Blue Jackets still have over $13 million of cap space with most of their roster signed. Gallagher could be a very nice consolation prize for them.

He’s the kind of player John Tortorella loves. Gallagher leaves everything on the ice and never takes a shift off. He’s small, but he’s relentless. Gallagher’s like a pitbull guarding its owner when he has the puck. He’s hard to play off the puck. Gallagher would give the Blue Jackets an extremely impressive group of top-six forwards who could compete with anyone.

The Metropolitan Division is going to be rough next season. Last season, seven teams from the Metro made the expanded postseason. It’s not a stretch to say both wild card teams from the East could come from the Metropolitan Division next year.

The Blue Jackets desperately need to add some firepower to match the other teams in their division. Gallagher isn’t quite as good as Hall, but he’s still pretty darn good. He’d be a perfect target for a team searching for goal scorers.

Nashville Predators

There’s a big hole in the Nashville Predators lineup after they lost Craig Smith in free agency. According to CapFriendly, Luke Kunin is penciled in to be their second-line right wing. Kunin is a fine player, but he’s probably not a top six forward on a contending team.

Gallagher would be a great fit on their second line and would give them a top-six that could be feared. Their top line of Johansen, Forsberg, and Arvidsson had a rough year, but given their impressive work together in the past, they should probably still be together. With Gallagher on their second line, the Predators would have two impressive scoring lines.

Much like Smith, Gallagher can drive play. But he’s even better at it than Smith. Smith is pretty good at it, but Gallagher’s easily among the best in the league at doing so. He’d give a huge boost to their second line and he might be able to get Matt Duchene going and producing like the Predators had hoped.

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Nashville’s Stanley Cup window is closing. They’ve got to win soon or some huge changes will be coming to the roster. If the Predators aim to go down swinging, Gallagher would be a terrific addition.

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