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Gallagher Speaks On Future With Canadiens And Captaincy

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Montreal Canadiens

Does Montreal Canadiens veteran winger Brendan Gallagher already know he won’t become the 31st captain of the Montreal Canadiens? What about his future with the team?

In a wide-ranging interview on TSN 690’s new midday show ‘Campbell vs Gallo’, veteran Montreal Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher took the high road when asked about the potential of becoming the 31st captain of the storied franchise.

“We have a lot of guys in the locker room that are capable of being leaders and the bottom line is no matter who is wearing the ‘C’ we are going to need a lot of guys to step up in a lot of different ways,” Gallagher replied when asked about the captaincy.

What was also interesting was his rather excessive praise for one of his former bosses and former Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. After the worst start in the 112-year history of the Montreal Canadiens franchise, Bergevin, assistant GM Trevor Timmins, and senior VP of press relations and communications Paul Wilson were all fired by the Montreal Canadiens on November 28. That same day, the Habs announced that they had hired former New York Rangers GM, Jeff Gorton, as their new executive vice-president of hockey operations.

While things didn’t end well for Bergevin in Montreal, his teams made it to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014 and to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

“First and foremost it kind of speaks to the tenure that Bergevin had – not a lot of people are capable of spending a decade in Montreal as general manager,” Gallagher said. “He came in and his mission was to change the culture and to change the thinking of how the organization ran, and for years it worked – we were always a very good team, always found a way to get back to the top.

I really appreciate Bergevin’s time here but now the new management with Jeff and Kent – it does feel similar, they’re coming in with new, fresher ideas, a little bit of fresh life. They have an idea of how our team operates, they have an idea of what they need to make these changes to get us back to where we want to be.”

The biggest question now – and Gallagher is very aware of that – is not whether Gallagher, who has worn an A as an alternate captain for the last seven seasons, will be the next captain but whether or not he will be part of those changes Hughes and Gorton make going forward?

Gallagher, 30, finished with seven goals and 24 points in 56 games this season after being limited to 35 games in 2020-21. Signed through 2027 at a cap hit of $6.5 million, Gallagher has become the subject of numerous trade rumours and also whether or not he can handle the rigours of an 82-game season still.

“I understand everyone asking those questions and I understand where they’re coming from but at the same time… there’s stuff that I’m dealing with here but I’m comfortable going into next year,” the Montreal Canadiens winger said.

Time will tell how comfortable Hughes and Gorton are with Gallagher and his cap hit going forward.