The Habs’ Gallagher one of league’s best bargains

Signing forward to six-year deal in 2014 paying off handsomely for Canadiens

Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin knew he was taking a risk when he signed Brendan Gallagher to a six-year contract extension worth US$22.5 million in November 2014.

“We feel comfortable,” Bergevin said at the time. “It’s always a risk going long-term with any player. We felt this time that the risk was worth it.” Was it ever.

Gallagher scored twice in the Canadiens’ 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night, giving him a team-leading 21 goals and putting him on pace for 32 this season, one more than his career high set last year when he was one of 32 players in the NHL to hit the 30-goal mark. After signing his contract, which has two more seasons remaining, Gallagher said: “It’s never about the money. The most important thing for me was getting the six years.” Gallagher is looking like one of the best bargains in the NHL and his $3.75 million salary-cap hit ranks eighth on the Canadiens behind Carey Price ($10.5 million), Shea Weber ($7.857 million), Jonathan Drouin ($5.5 million), Jeff Petry ($5.5 million), Tomas Tatar ($4.8 million), Karl Alzner ($4.625 million) and Andrew Shaw ($3.9 million). “I don’t know about bargain,” Gallagher said when asked about his contract after Tuesday’s game. “When I signed that, that was the most money I’ve ever seen in my life. Honestly, it was an exciting day. I never think of myself as a bargain. I think we’re all pretty fortunate to be able to do this for a living. It started out as a game, it started out as a hobby, and to be able to do it now as a career I think we’re all pretty lucky.”

One of my pet peeves is when a pro athlete signs a long-term contract for security and then complains about it later when it starts to seem like he’s underpaid. A contract is a contract and it should be honoured, so Gallagher’s response was refreshing and not surprising coming from him.

With Gallagher, what you see is what you get. He hasn’t changed his style of play since the 2002 Brick Super Novice Tournament in Edmonton when he was 10 and his team’s hardest-working player, crashing the net and scoring a couple of goals in a video you can still watch on YouTube. “If I don’t play that way, I’m not a very good player,” Gallagher said. “I understand my abilities and my strengths and weaknessesandyoujusttrytoplaytoyour strengths. I think that’s probably why everyone’s made it to this level is we have an understanding of what you need to do and you’re able to consistently do it. For me, I knew that at a very young age. If I changed my game, I wouldn’t be here.”

You can’t measure everything Gallagher brings to a game on the scoresheet. He certainly doesn’t and he didn’t set a personal goal of hitting the 30-goal mark again this season. “I don’t like to do that,” he said. “It kind of takes away from the fun of the game and the reason you play. There are games where you score a goal, but you know you didn’t play well and, viceversa, there are games where you don’t put the puck in the net but you had a good game. I think there’s a lot more that needs to go in my game for me to have success. I know whether I played a good game or not ... and it’s not always going to show up on the stats sheet. But certainly scoring goals is a part of my role here and you like to contribute. But in terms of setting numbers, it’s not something I’ve ever done. “You just take it game to game,” Gallagher added. “Whether I’m on a scoring streak or in a slump, I try not to let it affect me coming to the rink. At times it’s tough, but it’s part of playing here for seven years. I guess you kind of get used to it and you know how to deal with it. You understand when things are going well you don’t think about that stuff and when things aren’t going well you shouldn’t get away from what made you successful. You just go back to basics and eventually you’ll get the results.” That’s what Bergevin was banking on when he signed Gallagher to the contract extension. “He doesn’t take a shift off, he never has,” the GM said at the time. “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.” That’s something money hasn’t changed.