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Brendan Gallagher has played a lot of hockey for the Montreal Canadiens.
He's no longer a member of the Habs, though. On Monday, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
Eric Engels reported the trade:
- Gallagher to the Canucks
- Canadiens retain 50% of the salary
- Canucks send "future considerations" to Montreal
It's essentially Montreal dumping Gallagher to Vancouver.
MORE: What the Gavin McKenna pick means for the Maple Leafs
Why did the Canucks trade for Brendan Gallagher?
Vancouver is in the middle of a rebuild, but even in that setting, leaders are needed.
Gallagher is a respected veteran with a lot of NHL experience who can bring that to the ice with the Canucks.
He's also coming at a discount. With Montreal retaining half his salary, Gallagher doesn't crush the books of the Canucks while still providing the type of presence they were lacking.
Why did the Canadiens get rid of Brendan Gallagher?
His salary hit was just too large to make the other moves they'd want to make this offseason.
He had a $6.5 million cap hit to Montreal. By retaining half his salary, they at least get half of that off the books.
Gallagher had stopped being a key contributor, and the Canadiens are a young team trying to build up and get even better. Gallagher no longer fit their timeline.
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