RUMOR: Brendan Gallagher could be traded this week

Marc-Olivier Cook
RUMOR: Brendan Gallagher could be traded this week
Credit: NHL.com

Last night, Brendan Gallagher was named 2026 Sports Personality of the Year at the Sports Celebrity Gala, an annual event organized by the Cummings Centre Foundation.

This is a great honor for the veteran who has always fought hard on the ice for the Canadiens organization.

That said, Simon-Olivier Lorange (La Presse) took advantage of the event to ask him a few questions about his future. And as a result, we got a little more information regarding his departure—which could happen fairly soon after all.

Gallagher confirmed that his agent is on the phone and working tirelessly to find him a new team. We expected that to be the case… but it's especially this sentence in Simon-Olivier Lorange's article that's interesting:

A deal will likely be finalized in the coming days. – Simon-Olivier Lorange

It seems likely that the player in question could be moving to a new team as early as this week. And that's not far-fetched at all…

It's not that far-fetched, and there are reasons why I'm saying this.

1. The draft and the opening of free agency are coming up. Kent Hughes will want to resolve the Gallagher situation as quickly as possible to free up cap space before the draft and July 1, giving him even more flexibility for a trade…

2. Gally definitely wants this resolved quickly, too. The veteran probably doesn't want to wait weeks and weeks to find out what's in store for him: the sooner it's done, the less stressful it will be for him…

Of course, let's remember that the Canucks are being mentioned a lot in this situation because they're a perfect destination for the forward. He'd have the opportunity to return home, but more importantly, he'd have the chance to play a relatively significant role because the Vancouver team is rebuilding and needs veterans like Gallagher to mentor the young players.

That doesn't mean he can't be traded elsewhere, but still.

I'll fall right off my chair if Gally plays for any team other than the Canucks in '26-'27, I tell you…


In a nutshell

– He deserves it.

– I can't wait to see that.

– Well done!

– We'll see during the tournament.

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