Gallagher on Canadiens: 'I know we’ll be better' this season

Brendan Gallagher is expecting the Montreal Canadiens to take a step forward in their second full season under head coach Martin St. Louis.

The Canadiens saw a slight improvement last season under St. Louis, finishing 28th after coming dead last in 2021-22. Montreal is still just two years removed from reaching the Stanley Cup Final under then-coach Dominque Ducharme in 2021.

“You never know going into a season what type of team you’ll have. I know we’ll be better. How much better is up to each one of us,” Gallagher told the Montreal Gazette. “It all depends on the strides that everybody is going to make. I think we’ll be more comfortable with our system. I think Marty is more comfortable with us. We’ve been together. That always helps.

“You can go into a year saying that you don’t have high expectations. You get off to a good start for the first 10 games and a belief factor starts to build. From there, it’s a matter of keeping that momentum going.” 

Gallagher was limited to just 37 games last season after he broke his right ankle twice. The 31-year-old winger, who was also limited to 56 games the previous season, had eight goals and 14 points in his limited playing time. 

The Edmonton native has been unable to play a full season since doing so in back-to-back campaigns in 2017-2019. He's hopeful a full off-season of training will curb his bad luck. 

“I’ve had a good summer. I have hit all my numbers in the gym, I feel good on the ice,” said Gallagher. “It’s just about getting a little bit of luck and staying healthy for a full season and I’ll get back to where I need to be. 

“I felt good last summer but I broke my ankle, and it was a frustrating year. I wasn’t there two summers ago [coming off the playoff run], but I’m there now.

“My season was so short last year. There was nothing I could really hang on to. I came back for 10 games at the end and felt good, but you just want to have a year where you contribute and feel like you’re helping the guys out.”

Gallagher is signed for four more seasons at a cap hit of $6.5 million.

Canadiens off-season recap

The Canadiens, who acquired forward Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche in June, added to their roster again over the weekend, jumping in as the third team in the Pittsburgh Penguins' deal to acquire Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks. Montreal brought back veteran defenceman Jeff Petry in the deal and added goaltender Casey DeSmith. 

The Canadiens also received a 2025 second-round pick and prospect Nathan Legare in the deal from Pittsburgh, while moving winger Mike Hoffman to the Sharks and forward Rem Pitlick from the Penguins. Additionally, the Penguins retained $1.56 million of Petry's $6.25 million salary through the 2024-25 season.

Montreal was quiet in free agency, but kept veteran centre Sean Monahan on a one-year, $1.99 million contract ahead of the market opening and locked up winger Cole Caufield long term with an eight-year, $62.8 million deal.