Installment No. 17 of our 25 Montreal Canadiens in 25 days series is dedicated to forward Brendan Gallagher.
Any player who rises to the NHL as a fifth-round draft pick is probably a pretty determined individual.
But Gallagher takes determination to a whole other level.
Not only did Gallagher make it to the NHL, he’s been a mainstay since he was 20. And he’s thrived with 116 points in 207 games over three seasons with the Canadiens.
Some pretty good players have been forced to accept bridge deals out of their entry-level contracts with the Canadiens. Three of their best, Max Pacioretty, Carey Price and P.K. Subban, all fit that mould. But Gallagher broke it because he was a known commodity to general manager Marc Bergevin, who locked him into a six-year, $22.5 million contract in November of 2014.
“He’s always in the paint,” Bergevin said about Gallagher. “He works hard, he gets loose pucks, and he’s not afraid of anything. He competes night in and night out.”
That’s a description all of Gallagher’s previous general managers and coaches would agree with.
He spent his major junior days in Vancouver playing for the WHL’s Giants, and he stands as their all-time leader in goals (136) and points (280) in the regular season. In 42 playoff games with the franchise, he scored 36 points.
Gallagher’s also a Team Canada alum. At the 2011 World Junior Championship, he posted six points in six games.
While the 2012-13 lockout was ongoing, Gallagher scored 10 goals and 20 points for the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. When the lockout ended, Gallagher made the jump to Montreal and scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 44 games and completed the year with the Canadiens.
Much has been made of Gallagher’s tenacious style. He plays with reckless abandon and willingly takes his fair share of abuse from opponents. Many have suggested this style puts his longevity at risk, but there’s something to be said about the fact he’s only missed five games to injury in his three years with Montreal.
It’s Gallagher’s durability, consistency, and willingness to go for broke that had Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur suggest in May that he should be the team’s next captain. And while Max Pacioretty was given that honour at training camp this year, Gallagher was named one of four alternate captains, securing his leadership position.
Who: Brendan Gallagher | No. 11 | Second/first line, right wing (shoots right) | 5-foot-9 | 182 pounds | Age: 23 | @BGALLY17
Acquired: 2010 NHL Draft (147th overall)
Contract status: Six years, $3.75M AAV (expires 2021)
2014-15 Stats: 82 GP | 24 G | 23 A | 47 P | 16:35 TOI | 53.3 CF%
Career stats: 207 GP | 58 G | 58 A | 116 P | 15:14 TOI | 54.3 CF%
The book on 2014-15:
Gallagher set career highs in goals, game-winning goals (six), assists, points, hits (48) and blocked shots (49). But what distinguished him last season didn’t show up on the score sheet.
He was a consistent thorn in the side of his opponents. Gallagher battled on every shift, pestered every goaltender, and his enthusiasm always seemed to be the catalyst that picked the Canadiens up whenever they fell flat.
Rarely does a player produce as much on the road as he does at home, but another impressive part of Gallagher’s game was that he picked up 23 of his 47 points away from the Bell Centre.
When crunch-time came, Gallagher was Montreal’s second-most productive forward in the Stanley Cup playoffs, notching three goals and two assists in 12 games.
But it wasn’t just that he scored, it was how he scored.
Off-season updates:
Gallagher spends his summers in Vancouver, where he held a mid-August charity-softball game to benefit the Shriners’ Hospital for Children.
When he wasn’t training with his father Kevin – a strength and conditioning coach for the Vancouver Giants – and former Boston Bruin Milan Lucic, Gallagher was playing golf with his friends.
2015-16 outlook
Are 30 goals and 30 assists in 2015-16 out of the question for Gallagher if he stays healthy? There’s reason to believe he can get to that level.
Improving on his three power play goals in 2014-15 would help a lot.
The Canadiens can now rely on defenceman Jeff Petry in that capacity for a full season and forward Alex Semin offers a new dimension there. Add in the maturation of defenceman Nathan Beaulieu and centre Alex Galchenyuk and Montreal’s power play is likely to improve dramatically. Gallagher will be a beneficiary.
Gallagher should be able to double his production with the man advantage and if he increases his scoring at even strength — as he has in each of the past two seasons — that should be enough to push him to the next level.
