Nov. 30, 2014: Brendan Gallagher signs a six-year, $22.5-million extension with the Montreal Canadiens. The former 147th draft pick is locked in long-term after playing just 150 games in the NHL, two years and six weeks into the final season of his three-year, entry-level contract.
The deal came when the majority of the league’s players in Gallagher’s category were being signed to bridge contracts, with risks mitigated on both sides of the ledger depending on the quality of the player. And it was signed just three weeks after he went point-less for nine consecutive games—the longest drought of his career up to that point in time.
Sure, Gallagher had accumulated 40 goals and 82 points and established himself as a relentless, greasy scorer while playing mostly third-line minutes, and there was ample reason to believe the contract would prove to be a steal for the Canadiens.
But the deal wasn’t on trend.
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Ask Alex Galchenyuk, the former third-overall pick of the Canadiens who broke in with Gallagher in 2013 and scored 27 goals and 73 points in the 137 games he had played up until Gallagher’s signing. He was signed for two years, $6.5 million, exactly eight months later after completing the 2014-15 season with 20 goals and 46 points.
So how come Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin had no pause about signing Gallagher when he did?
“He doesn’t take a shift off, he never has,” he said on the day Gallagher signed in 2014. “The effort is always there, and his character is off the charts. He’s always in the paint, he works hard, he gets loose pucks and he’s not afraid of anything. He competes night in and night out.
“The way Brendan performs on the ice, he’s always around the net. Whether you’re six-foot-eight or six-foot-one, he plays the same way. His foot is always on the accelerator.”
In simpler terms, Bergevin knew exactly what he was buying.
Five years into the deal, nothing has changed. Gallagher’s amassed 115 goals and 218 points in 340 games. And though he’s spent those five years as an assistant captain—first to Max Pacioretty, and then to Shea Weber—he’s been second to no one in the organization in the dedication department.
Gallagher built status as the heart and soul of the Canadiens long ago, and he’s maintained it ever since. And given all that, and the resonance of Bergevin’s words back in November of 2014, there was no sense in allowing the perception that the Canadiens and Gallagher were at odds to linger any longer than a day.
On Tuesday, Gallagher’s agent, Gerry Johannson, leaked to two reporters that negotiations between both parties had broken off.
On Wednesday, Gallagher signed a six-year, $39-million deal.
Was it a surprise? The timing of it was, absolutely. Especially after Bergevin made overtures on Tuesday about how his 2021 free agents would have to accept that there was only enough money to go around under a stagnant salary cap ceiling and that they’d have to “make some sacrifices” if they wished to remain in Montreal.
But it shouldn’t be that shocking Bergevin and Gallagher were able to find middle ground in a hurry.
It took a couple of minor concessions on Gallagher’s end. As we noted on Tuesday, he had the $45.5-million contract Chris Kreider signed with the New York Rangers in February as the closest comparable to use in negotiations, but he ended up accepting one year and $6.5 million less than Kreider did. Kreider also got $22 million of his deal in signing bonuses, which is $22 million more than Gallagher got.
Brendan Gallagher’s #habs extension is paid entirely in salary. Here is the breakdown: $5M, 6.5M, 8M, $9M, $6.5M, $4M.
Bergevin conceded, too. He gave Gallagher the type of security almost no one is getting in this pandemic-stricken system. He signed him until his 35th birthday, after giving 26-year-old Josh Anderson a seven-year, $38.5 million contract that takes him to 33 and Tyler Toffoli a four-year deal worth $17 million that takes him to 32.
Bergevin promised he’d make Gallagher his highest-paid forward, and he delivered on his promise.
He did it because Gallagher has earned it, but certainly because he knows what he’s buying.
Is there risk in this deal? Plenty of it. The chances Gallagher produces as much on his next contract as he did (and will continue to do) on his current one are not favourable. And players who play like him—like a human pinball—tend not to age unblemished.
But you don’t win without them.
And the Canadiens have their sights on winning now. That much is clear after Bergevin burned through every dollar available to him under the cap to secure a much-improved roster for the 2020-21 season. He’ll gladly take on the risk that Gallagher’s deal could prove troublesome on the back end for the potential reward of having the player he knows and loves for right now—and for at least a couple of years more.
Habs have $22.1 million in cap space for next off-season. UFAs: Gallagher, Danault, Tatar, Armia, Weal. RFAs: Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen, Mete, Poehling, Fleury, Juulsen and a few others on the fringe.
Does it mean some other players get squeezed out down the line? Almost assuredly. Looking at Montreal’s cap situation for the 2021-22 season, it’s no secret Bergevin’s going to have some hard choices to make.
But it was an easier decision to lock Gallagher up now than to allow him to think for even one more second he could be perceived as less vital to the team’s championship aspirations than any of the other players Bergevin signed over the last six weeks.
Maybe Bergevin would have squeezed a better deal out of Gallagher had he waited.
Or maybe he would have created resentment where there wasn’t some before. The kind that could push Gallagher to the open market.
That would’ve undone a lot of good work the GM has done to finally put this team on a winning track.
You know, the work Gallagher just invested in by agreeing to stay with the Canadiens.
He said just over a month ago that nothing mattered more to him than winning. It’s clear he believes he can do it in Montreal.
“I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else,” he said in a video message to Canadiens fans through the team’s Twitter account. “I love what Berge has done this summer. We’re going to have a very competitive team, and the guys are excited.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
