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Canadiens might have a problem with trading Brendan Gallagher originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Brendan Gallagher already sees the writing on the wall.
In his season-ending interview, the Montreal Canadiens' veteran made it clear he didn't expect to play for the Habs again.
The thing is, Gallagher's contract isn't up. For him to end up elsewhere will require a trade.
And a trade takes two to tango.
In this case, there are almost three layers -- what the Habs get, what the other team gets, and Gallagher's contract.
The contract could make it tougher than anyone thinks.
MORE: Dylan Larkin's trade request points out a major NHL flaw
Brendan Gallagher contract dilemma
For a player who is pretty much being discarded, Gallagher is paid quite well.
"Moving the $6.5-million cap hit will be easier said than done given he’s a marginal NHL contributor at this stage of his career," Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin wrote as part of a new article on Wednesday.
It likely won't be as simple as the Canadiens simply dumping Gallagher.
They'll probably have to help an acquiring team pay for him, or it'll cost them another trade piece in addition to the veteran.
"The Habs absolutely do need to shed cap space as they chase a higher-end upgrade, likely at center, but moving Gallagher likely means (a) retaining up to 50 percent of his AAV or (b) attaching an asset in exchange for the acquiring team eating his whole cap hit," Larkin writes. "In the latter scenario, the acquiring team could shrink the cap hit via buyout; he’d cost $3.83 million, but he’d still be on the books an extra year for $1.33 million in that case."
Neither of those options is as easy as the Canadiens would like. In a perfect world, they could just get rid of the aging, former contributor and move forward with their young roster.
The world isn't perfect, though. Reality will require the Habs to do some extra work to trade Gallagher.
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