Gallagher, 28, has one year remaining at $3.75 million on his current deal and becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 campaign.
The pesky winger is due for a pay raise after playing some of his best hockey in recent years. He reached the 30-goal mark in each of the previous two campaigns and was on pace to do so over 82 games again in 2019-20.
Gallagher co-led the Canadiens with 22 goals and added 21 assists while averaging 16:55 in ice time over 59 games this season. He added four points in nine playoff contests.
Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has made several key changes to the club's forward group this offseason. He dealt Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Josh Anderson and signed winger Tyler Toffoli to a four-year, $17-million deal Monday.
Montreal currently has just five forwards under contract beyond the 2020-21 campaign.
Ottawa Senators blue-chip prospect Tim Stuetzle requires surgery after suffering an arm injury in Germany and will remain sidelined for six-to-eight weeks, the Mannheim Eagles announced Tuesday, as E.H.C's Szymon Szemberg translated.
Stuetzle, 18, was the top-ranked European skater following last season, and Ottawa selected him third overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.
The injury occurred when Stuetzle collided awkwardly with another player during practice.
"I wasn’t there but according to the coach Pavel Gross when I talked to him after he said it was a drill they had and two players bumped into each other," said Mannheim GM Jan-Axel Alavaara, according to the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch.
"It was Tim Stuetzle and another player and he was cutting his lane a little bit and it wasn’t a hard check or anything," he added. "They bumped into each other and it was an unlucky angle."
The 6-foot-1 forward recorded seven goals and 34 points over 41 contests with Mannheim last season.
Stuetzle also represented Germany at the 2020 world juniors, contributing five assists over five games.
In 2020, the NHL offseason is on steroids. Last Tuesday and Wednesday saw the league hold a marathon virtual draft, then on Friday it opened the annual free-agency window. Transactions have since flooded in, headlined by a handful of notable trades and both Taylor Hall and Alex Pietrangelo joining new clubs. Here are seven thoughts about what's transpired across the NHL:
Golden Knights roll out red carpet
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The cost of doing business constantly changes. In life and sport.
The Tampa Bay Lightning - the most recent Stanley Cup champions - had Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow cost them two first-round picks at the trade deadline. The price tags were expensive, yet the payoff was worth it. Even now, Tampa is dealing with an unenviable salary cap crunch in the wake of going all in on a title run. Again, it's the cost of doing business.
Really, though, who cares if you have a ring, right?
That's basically the Vegas Golden Knights' mentality this offseason. On Monday, they landed an elite player in Alex Pietrangelo, inking the St. Louis Blues' outgoing captain to a seven-year, $61.6-million deal. In the process, general manager Kelly McCrimmon traded away two key contributors for pennies on the dollar. Pietrangelo, the all-situations defenseman, is in, but top-pairing blue-liner Nate Schmidt and No. 2 center Paul Stastny are out - for the measly return of a third-rounder, fourth-rounder, and Carl Dahlstrom.
Despite the risk, it's not to say Vegas shouldn't have gone down this multi-layered path. McCrimmon should be applauded for once again being bold and bringing another high-profile talent to Vegas. And given how close this team has come to winning a Cup in its first three years of existence, there's no use in being conservative. Go nuts. Roll out the red carpet. Put all your chips in the middle of the table. Make the big splash while you can.
Pietrangelo, who finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting this past season after recording 52 points in 70 games, addresses Vegas' only glaring weakness: the absence of a No. 1 defenseman. Now, after Shea Theodore's breakthrough in the 2020 playoffs, head coach Pete DeBoer might actually have a pair of back end studs at his disposal whenever the 2020-21 season begins.
It won't be easy - winning a Cup in the salary cap era never is - but the Golden Knights have secured favorite status in the West by grasping the idea of calculated risk and acting up on it. Pietrangelo is the type of guy you do everything in your power, within reason, to acquire if he's made available.
Viva Las Vegas.
Not much to complain about
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Where are all the regrettable contracts?
We knew the COVID-19 pandemic would affect free agency. There was no fighting that reality. But we didn't know to what degree until the deals started rolling in. And, based on the activity through four days, it's obvious teams aren't doling out $56 million over seven years for a Matt Duchene type, or $80 million over seven years for a Sergei Bobrovsky equivalent. Both money and term have been in short supply, and only a few deals are raising eyebrows.
Matt Murray's and Josh Anderson's deals are probably the biggest "huh?" contracts of the past week or so. Murray, who the Ottawa Senators acquired during the draft and then signed to an extension a few days later, will earn $25 million over the next four years, while Anderson is due $38.7 million over the next seven seasons. You can talk yourself into the scenarios - Murray's paycheck helps the Senators reach the cap floor and Anderson is a rare power winger who can skate and score - but both deals have bust potential.
The list more or less stops there, though, in terms of non-sensical, egregious behavior. Sure, there's nitpicking to be done on every GM's recent track record. (Why did the Edmonton Oilers re-sign Mike Smith? How did Jack Johnson receive another NHL deal? etc.) Even so, the usual silliness in regard to contract terms has been minimized in this flat-cap, no-revenue climate.
According to PuckPedia, only three of the 46 contracts signed for $1 million or more by unrestricted free agents so far have included signing bonuses (Taylor Hall and Braden Holtby both have bonuses in Year 1; Jacob Markstrom has bonuses in Year 5 and Year 6). Among those 46 agreements, 28 were multi-year deals, while just 12 of the 28 multi-year contracts were for three seasons or more.
Another interesting development via PuckPedia: NHL clubs will dole out the lowest amount of compensation during the 2020-21 season in 21 of those 28 multi-year contracts. Put another way, teams backloaded many deals so they can pay players later rather than sooner, when presumably the league's economics return to normal, or close to it.
Rookie GMs getting to work
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There have been four GM hirings in 2020: Bill Armstrong in Arizona, Kevyn Adams in Buffalo, Bill Zito in Florida, and Tom Fitzgerald in New Jersey. Armstrong's Coyotes have been pretty tame overall, making only minor moves, with depth forward Johan Larsson probably counting as the club's biggest get. Meanwhile, the other rookie bosses seem to be operating freely.
First of all, Adams deserves high praise for the sales job that landed the sought-after Hall. Nobody saw the one-year, $8-million deal coming, yet Adams made it happen. Props to him for, at the very least, injecting some positivity into the tortured Sabres fan base. (Nine years without the playoffs!)
While neither the Panthers nor Devils can claim to have reeled in a marquee name like Hall, both Zito and Fitzgerald have undoubtedly improved their squads. It's quantity over quality for those franchises.
On the heels of trading for power forward Patric Hornqvist from the Pittsburgh Penguins in late September, Zito acquired two players he knows intimately from his time with the Blue Jackets by signing defensive center Alex Wennberg and trading for shutdown defenseman Markus Nutivaara. Zito also nabbed bottom-six forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Carter Verhaeghe, as well as rough-and-tumble blue-liner Radko Gudas for three years on a reasonable $2.5-million cap hit.
In short, Zito added depth to the one-line, one-pairing team he inherited.
New Jersey has also done alright for itself thanks to Fitzgerald's opportunism. Goalie Corey Crawford, a career-long Blackhawk, is a Devil for the next two years because Fitzgerald swooped in after Chicago didn't table an extension to the two-time Stanley Cup winner. Fitzgerald also acquired Andreas Johnsson - buried on the Maple Leafs' depth chart - for fellow forward Joey Anderson because the GM pounced after Toronto realized it couldn't afford Johnsson. The Devils also got defenseman Ryan Murray for basically nothing - a fifth-round pick in 2021 - because Fitzgerald swooped in when Columbussorely needed to clear cap space in order to chase UFAs and extend restricted free agent Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Not too shabby for a few GM newbies.
Goalie carousel winners
Mark Blinch / Getty Images
Here's a non-chronological recap of the game of musical chairs goalies have played over the last while: Henrik Lundqvist left the Rangers for the Capitals; Holtby left the Capitals for the Canucks; Markstrom left the Canucks for the Flames; Cam Talbot left the Flames for the Wild; Thomas Greiss left the Islanders for the Red Wings; and Crawford left the Blackhawks for the Devils. Plus, the Wild shipped Devan Dubnyk to the Sharks while the Penguins dealt Matt Murray to the Senators.
It's an exhausting list to absorb and, frankly, it's difficult to grade since there are plenty of fair contracts and nice player-team fits in the mix. Popping off the page in the right way, though, are two similar situations: Holtby's arrival in Vancouver, and Crawford's departure for New Jersey.
Both goalies are past their prime; Holtby's 31 years old and Crawford's 35. But there's still tremendous value to be squeezed out of the tail end of their impressive careers. The Canucks are looking to make the transition from Markstrom to Thatcher Demko as painless as possible, and the Devils hope to do something similar with Mackenzie Blackwood. These well-liked veterans increase the probability of a smooth handoff, and they're no slouches themselves between the pipes.
On another note, the Markstrom ordeal in Vancouver could have been a complete disaster for Canucks GM Jim Benning. He could have lost Markstrom and struck out on Plan B. However, Benning apparently played his cards correctly and now has a solid 1A-1B combo with Holtby on board.
Suddenly sunny in Detroit
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While being unveiled as the Detroit Red Wings' GM last April, Steve Yzerman repeatedly said, "There's a lot of work to be done." The 2019-20 season hammered that point home; the Wings lost 54 of 71 games and finished with a stunning minus-122 goal differential.
Conversely, the past couple of weeks have been awfully encouraging for the franchise. First, the Yzerman-built Lightning won the Stanley Cup, which is a confidence booster. A few days later, Detroit received glowing reviews after taking Swedes Lucas Raymond and William Wallinder fourth and 32nd overall, respectively, in a 12-pick showing at the NHL draft.
Yzerman then made some shrewd moves over the weekend, signing middle-six forwards Vladislav Namestnikov (two years, $2 million per season) and Bobby Ryan (one year, $1 million) to beef up the Wings' attack. The blue line has been reinforced, too, with UFAs Troy Stecher (two years, $1.7 million per season) and Jon Merrill (one year, $925,000) brought into the fold alongside veteran Marc Staal, who Detroit acquired via trade last month.
Toss in new starting goalie Greiss (two years, $3.6 million per season) and re-signed forward Sam Gagner (one year, $850,000), and you have a ton of short-term, low-cost, low-profile pickups. That's exactly what the Wings need in abundance right now as the franchise evolves from a miserable tanking team to a semi-competitive rebuilding club.
Former GM Ken Holland left Yzerman a mess to clean up - bloated contracts, a lackluster prospect pipeline, no hope - but the ex-captain is starting to leave his mark.
Offer sheet watch continues
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Oh, to be a fly on the wall inside the Lightning's war room.
Aside from swapping picks on draft day, GM Julien BriseBois has made just four NHL-level moves since winning the Cup on Sept. 28. He extended Mitchell Stephens, Patrick Maroon, and Luke Schenn, and placed Tyler Johnson on waivers in an attempt to shift money off the books.
Otherwise, the Lightning - whose RFAs Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak could be spicy offer-sheet targets - have been inactive on the transaction front. Perhaps it's a game of chicken on BriseBois' part, where he's hoping some desperate GM calls him with a trade package that can free up more cap space for Tampa Bay. Or, perhaps, BriseBois is waiting for madness to ensue elsewhere.
The Lightning are definitely the most vulnerable team, but it seemed like the New York Islanders also could've been susceptible to an offer sheet before they traded underrated blue-liner Devon Toews to the Colorado Avalanche. Stud center Mathew Barzal, top-four defenseman Ryan Pulock, and Toews were all eligible to sign one as RFAs. Now, with Toews gone, New York has $8.2 million in space for Barzal and Pulock, keeping most of the attention on Tampa Bay.
On second thought, considering offer sheets are so rare - Sebastian Aho signing with the Montreal Canadiens last July was the first in six-plus years - and most NHL owners are cash poor anyway, which brave soul would dare toss an offer sheet at a player employed by a team run by legendary hockey executive Lou Lamoriello? Based on the respect the Isles GM commands across the league, the answer is, "Not many, if any."
Fleury started to show signs of decline at age 35 last year. He sported a 2.77 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage (his worst in a decade) in 49 games during the 2019-20 campaign.
He's signed for two more seasons with an annual cap hit of $7 million, which would be difficult to move in the flat cap world. Furthermore, most goaltender-needy teams already addressed their issues between the pipes during free agency.
Vegas traded for Lehner at the deadline and he became their primary goaltender in the playoffs, starting 16 games compared to Fleury's four. Lehner, 29, then signed a five-year, $25-million contract prior to free agency, which created rumors that Fleury could potentially be on his way out.
McCrimmon also added Lehner will undergo a cleanup surgery on his shoulder this week, but the goaltender will be ready for training camp.
The Golden Knights needed to clear cap room after signingAlex Pietrangelo, and Schmidt carries a $5.95-million cap hit for the next five seasons. The club is still $974,000 above the regular-season salary cap, though, according to CapFriendly. Teams are allowed to exceed the cap by 10% in the offseason.
Vancouver lost right-handed defensemen Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher in free agency this offseason. Schmidt is left-handed but he primarily played on the right side during his Vegas tenure.
Schmidt was plucked by the Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft from the Washington Capitals. He served as a top-four defenseman for the Knights, tallying at least 30 points each year.
The 29-year-old is an exceptional skater and posted an expected goals for percentage of at least 51% in all three seasons with Vegas despite being deployed in more of a defensive role, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Canucks' blue line projects to look something like this, pending further moves:
LD
RD
Quinn Hughes
Tyler Myers
Alex Edler
Nate Schmidt
Olli Juolevi
Jordie Benn
Vancouver now has just under $2 million in projected cap space and still has to re-sign RFAs Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette.
The 30-year-old was considered the top UFA on the open market. He finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting last season after racking up 52 points in 70 games with the St. Louis Blues.
Since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2010-11, Pietrangelo has averaged 50 points per 82 games. He's been very durable, too, playing at least 70 contests in every season during that span (excluding the shortened 2012-13 campaign).
The 6-foot-3 rearguard is also a proven winner. He captained the Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada in 2014, a World Cup title in 2016, and a world junior gold in 2009.
The Golden Knights are now $6.9 million above the salary cap, according to CapFriendly. The club will now be forced to part with a large salary in order to become cap compliant. Teams are allowed to be 10% over the cap during the offseason.
