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It’s now impossible to talk about a buyout for Brendan Gallagher

Jasons of Brendan Gallagher.

At the beginning of the season, we were talking about him as a player who was no longer following. We were saying that seeing the Canadiens buy out his contract could be an option in June 2025 since Gallagher’s annual salary will go from $9 million to $6.5 million, then $4 million thereafter.

The cost of a potential buyout would be more affordable than before, and that’s starting this summer:

(Credit: CapWages)

But in fact, it’s now impossible to talk about a buyout for Brendan Gallagher.

And the reason is simple: even if he’s not always at 100%, he continues to help the Canadiens.

He plays an important role in the team’s successes because he shows up every night and sets an example on the ice. He even didn’t want to miss games after the death of his mother and the birth of his daughter…

He’s healthy and that helps, too. He even reached the 20-goal plateau this season, while at the beginning of the campaign, nobody saw him scoring that many goals.

We could even say that he’s relaunched his career…

Buying out Brendan Gallagher’s contract this summer would be disrespecting him.

Especially after the season he’s having right now.

Of course, it’s sure that he’s a bit overpaid for what he brings on the ice and that his contract ends only in the summer of 2027, but still: Gally has proven that he can be one of the important pieces of the team.

And with the young players coming, the Canadiens need to have this leader to lead the rest of the group.

A first since the 2014-2015 season…

The Canadiens had success during the 2014-2015 season.

Led by Michel Therrien behind the bench, the team finished the season with a nice harvest of 50 wins.

But that season also turns out to be the last season where the Canadiens had the luxury of being able to count on four 20-goal scorers.

We’re talking about…

  • Max Pacioretty (37 goals)
  • Tomas Plekanec (26 goals)
  • Brendan Gallagher (24 goals)
  • Alex Galchenyuk (20 goals)

It almost happened also during the 2018-2019 season.

Brendan Gallagher (33 goals), Max Domi (28 goals), and Tomas Tatar (25 goals) all reached the 20-goal plateau… and there were also Andrew Shaw (19 goals) and Jonathan Drouin (18 goals) who came close.

I’m talking about this statistic because the Canadiens have four 20-goal scorers this season.

It’s the first time it’s happened in 10 years and Brendan Gallagher is still one of the team’s top scorers:

  • Cole Caufield (36 goals)
  • Nick Suzuki (27 goals)
  • Patrik Laine (20 goals)
  • Brendan Gallagher (20 goals)

If someone had told me in September that the Canadiens would have four 20-goal scorers this season, I would have believed it.

But if someone had told me in September that the Canadiens would have four 20-goal scorers this season and that Brendan Gallagher would be one of them… I would have found it a bit ridiculous.

Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

And again, it’s special… because we all thought Gally was out of gas.

In overtime

– Oh!

– He’s having a good time.

– To follow.

– Wow!

– I love the answer.

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The Canadiens no longer have one of the easiest schedules in the NHL

Over the last week, it’s often been mentioned that the Canadiens had an easy schedule.

One of the reasons? Over the last week, the Bruins, Flyers, and Predators, three lower-ranking clubs, were on the menu. The Habs did what they had to do, winning three times in regulation.

Result? Today, they are in a good position to make the playoffs.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

How good of a position are they in to make the playoffs? When we look at the standings, we can see that the six points ahead of the Red Wings and Rangers are… enviable.

A win in 60 minutes tonight would bring the Habs’ chances of making the playoffs to 96.32%.

And on that topic, it’s interesting to note that to get there, the Canadiens won’t necessarily face easy-to-beat teams. According to Tankathon, the Habs have the 17th most difficult schedule right now.

That’s to say they’re in the middle of the pack.

(Credit: Tankathon)

Among the tough matchups, there are the Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, and Senators. And among the easy matchups (on paper, of course), there are the Blackhawks and Red Wings.

Obviously, this is based on the standings, but…

But you know as well as I do that tonight’s game against the Red Wings won’t be easy… and you also know that game #82 in Carolina might not mean anything for the Canes.

And what about the Habs’ opponents in the playoff race?

  • Red Wings: 2nd most difficult schedule in the NHL
  • Blue Jackets: 10th most difficult schedule in the NHL
  • Rangers: 12th most difficult schedule in the NHL
  • Islanders: 23rd most difficult schedule in the NHL

The Red Wings will face the Habs tonight at the Bell Centre before playing in Florida on Thursday and Friday against the Panthers and Lightning. The Stars will be in Michigan next Monday, and the team will finish on the road, on April 16 and 17, in New Jersey and Toronto.

The Blue Jackets will host the Senators tonight, the Sabres on Thursday, and the Capitals on Saturday before visiting those same Capitals the next day. Then, there will be a game in Philly on the 15th, and the season will end at home on the 17th, against the Islanders.

The Rangers will host the Flyers tomorrow before playing on Long Island the next day. They will play in Carolina on Saturday, in Sunrise on April 14, and will host the Lightning on the 17th.

The Islanders are in Nashville tonight and will host the Rangers on the 10th. They will go to Philly on Saturday and New Jersey on Sunday before returning home for a game against Washington on the 15th. And two days later, it will end in Columbus.

Note, in passing, that the Senators have the fourth easiest schedule in the league. The Hurricanes, Blackhawks, Flyers, Blue Jackets, and Canadiens are on the menu.

And for the Habs, as you probably know, it looks like this:

(Credit: NHL.com)

The Islanders will face two direct rivals in the race, which could help divide the points among the remaining teams.

Let’s recall that in a scenario where the Red Wings win all their remaining games (which is unlikely), the Canadiens would only need seven more points to secure their spot.

A win tonight in regulation would mean the Habs would have 87 points, and at 90 points, qualification would become automatic. We’d only be talking about three points in four games to go get.

That’s why, as Gilbert Delorme says, tonight is the biggest game of the year.

Overtime

– With reason.

– Wow.

– He’s being praised, the young guy.

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The difference between Ivan Demidov and Alexander Nikishin, who could be leaving SKA

Ivan Demidov will likely finish his season in the VHL, the American League of Russia.

The Montreal Canadiens obviously own his rights in the NHL… and even if I have no doubt that the habs must work very hard to bring him to the city as soon as possible, we should not expect it to happen.

Why? Because he has a valid contract with SKA until May 31. And as long as the club wants to keep him, the habs can’t do anything.

But what we need to know is that during this time, SKA has a player named Alexander Nikishin, and he might be able to get out of his contract to sign in the NHL before May 31, 2025.

The Hurricanes could therefore succeed in bringing him in to finish the season.

Naturally, this rumor surrounding Demidov’s teammate forces many people to wonder what the difference is between the two SKA players.

And the answer is experience (so age, naturally) of the two guys.

As my colleague Maxime Truman said this morning, the fact that Nikishin has been in the KHL since 2019-2020 and has hundreds of games in the Russian circuit means that SKA, his club since 2022, considers that he has paid his dues in Russia.

He therefore has more chances of having the right to go to the NHL a few weeks before the end of his contract in Russia. But nothing is certain, as Marco D’Amico reminds us.

So Demidov, who has only one full year behind him in the KHL, must accept that SKA considers that he has done less for the club than his 23-year-old teammate.

This is why one of the two risks playing – in the short term – in the VHL… and the other, in the NHL.

in Overtime

– Dougie Hamilton back – as if by magic – in the first round? Possible.

– Interesting.

– News from CF Montréal.

– His death continues to spark conversation.

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David Savard has a chance to return to the game tonight (but not Emil Heineman)

Sunday, we learned at the last second that David Savard and Emil Heineman would not be able to face the Predators of Nashville on the road. Arber Xhekaj therefore played on the blue line.

Offensively, Josh Anderson returned, which allowed guys like Oliver Kapanen and Michael Pezzetta to stay in the lineup.

But we were wondering if tonight, the Canadiens would be able to see their players return. And Martin St-Louis simply confirmed that it’s a no for the forward.

Savard, though? We’ll see. Arber Xhekaj would likely be the one to take his place.

So, we can think that the offense will not be affected and that Joshua Roy will continue to watch from the stands. The coach has no reason to change his winning formula.

More details to come…

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There’s a good chance of seeing Lane Hutson sign at a discount

1. Lane Hutson, underpaid compared to Nick Suzuki?
My friend Georges Laraque went on the Poolcast podcast, hosted by Pascal Cameron and Marco Normandin (HabsolumentFan). Glad I could contribute to making this episode happen.

I’m going to take a step back. It’s still one more than Dominic Iankov this season…

Georges started strong, telling Pascal Charles Pellerin, who replaced Pascal, and Marco that in his opinion, Lane Hutson won’t have a higher average salary than Nick Suzuki in his next contract. And if that’s the case, it won’t be more than Patrik Laine…

« We all know that if he wants, he can have eight times ten. He deserves it. That’s for sure, he deserves it […] This guy loves hockey so much. He doesn’t have the temperament of a guy who will ask his agent… The Canadiens, that’s what they want, it’s the hierarchy, Suzuki the highest paid […] Lane Hutson loves hockey so much, I don’t see him being a guy who will demand, who will ask for $10 million per year. I would be surprised if his contract is more than $8.5 million. It’s a pay cut […] Already, he’s loved in Montreal, you can give him the keys to the city. » – Georges Laraque

I hope Big Georges is right…

2. Jakub Dobes’ last start in 2024-25?
The Canadiens have about nine out of ten chances of making the playoffs. It’s not all set in stone, but it would take a disaster for the team to miss the playoffs in the next two or three weeks.

The team only has five games left on the schedule, including three at the Centre Bell. And the statistical models on the HockeyReference website give them a 91.8% chance of making the playoffs this morning.

Jakub Dobes, who will likely start in goal for the first or second game in as many days, might face the Senators in Ottawa on Friday or the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday. After that, it will be the end of the back-to-back games.

And in the playoffs, there are usually no back-to-back games.

In short, unless the Canadiens secure their playoff spot in their last game (April 16), I don’t expect Dobes to have another start after this weekend.

The only scenario I see is if the Canadiens are guaranteed a playoff spot and can’t move up to seventh place; the game against the Hurricanes would be meaningless, and they might decide to rest Samuel Montembeault, who will have a heavy workload in the following weeks.

3. Jacob Fowler’s first start
The Rocket players played in British Columbia on Sunday and returned to Quebec on Monday.

Pascal Vincent gave them the day off today. They will be back at practice in Laval tomorrow.

It will be Fowler’s first professional practice, who has been training alone or taking shots from a few spare goalies from the Canadiens for a week.

We should also get an update on Connor Hughes’ health, who left the Rocket’s last game due to an injury.

I don’t know how Fowler will react on the ice against professional players, but if it goes well, he could get a start this weekend: the Rocket will be in Rochester on Friday and in Syracuse on Saturday.

Otherwise, it will be the following week against the Belleville Senators.

I’m repeating myself, but I expect the playoff starts to go to Cayden Primeau. He’s been incredible lately and deserves it. And the Rocket will want to increase their chances of winning in the playoffs…

We’ll also be keeping an eye on David Reinbacher’s presence – or lack thereof – tomorrow. It’s starting to get concerning, his situation… even if he skated this morning.

4. No first for the Canadiens
The Canadiens haven’t made the playoffs in the last three seasons, and before the start of the campaign, we all agreed that they would miss the playoffs for a fourth time in a row.

The Canadiens have never missed the playoffs four years in a row in their history.

However, this first won’t happen this year. Good thing!

Everything indicates that the Habs will stop their streak of seasons ending in mid-April at three.

No one will complain about that. Except maybe the Snake, who was dreaming of another high draft pick…

5. Stanley25 X DansLesCoulisses X Hockey30
During our first season of Stanley25, Jean Trudel and I had an idea: let’s interview David Garel to learn more about the man behind Hockey30.

The rest is history.

When David invited us to his podcast, saying no would have been a huge disrespect. So we accepted the invitation with pleasure and played along with the guy who, by his own admission, is probably the most polarizing and black sheep in the Quebec sports media.

We talked about traditional media, anecdotes about the Canadiens (including Guy A. Lepage and Tout le monde en parle), independent sites in 2025, David’s transition from Stanley25 to Hockey30, hypocrisy in the industry, the sale of 25Stanley, covering the CF Montreal daily, and people’s curiosity in Quebec newsrooms.

Want to hear about an experience? Go :

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Pierre-Luc Dubois: the best Québécois in the NHL according to his peers

Last year, the Los Angeles Kings were so discouraged by Pierre-Luc Dubois’ season that they agreed to trade him a year after working hard to bring him to town.

The Capitals wanted to take his contract? Good night, he’s gone.

And what’s interesting is that the Québécois has redeemed himself. In 77 games this season so far, he has 63 points, including 19 goals. It’s not a huge feat, but it equals his best career mark, which was during his last season in Winnipeg.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Right now, he’s an important part of the Capitals’ attack, a power in the NHL.

And all of this has led to his peers giving him the title of best Québécois in the NHL. The guys here voted, as they do every year, and L’Antichambre published the results.

First, we need to emphasize how well Dubois has been able to bounce back and come back strong after everything that happened. He made headlines for the wrong reasons in Columbus, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, and Montreal, but he bounced back.

Good for him!

But on the other hand, the fact that Dubois, who has not yet scored 20 goals this season, is the best Québécois in the NHL, says a lot about the state of hockey in Quebec right now.

We had already realized this at the Confrontation des quatre nations, but still.

Seeing Dubois and Jonathan Huberdeau (who has been doing well since his arrival in Calgary) in the top 2 is striking. And Jonathan Marchessault completes the top 3 with a rough season by his standards. He currently has 49 points.

Two players from the Canadiens are in the top 10: Samuel Montembeault (5) and Mike Matheson (10). Two former Habs players are also on the list: Jonathan Drouin in 9th place and Phillip Danault, tied for 10th place.

Overtime

– Ivan Demidov, better than Matvei Michkov at the same age?

– Another Habs prospect in the VHL.

– Important to note.

– Well.

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Race for the playoffs: the Rangers are discouraged

In my title, I wrote the words “race for the playoffs” when talking about the Rangers. Know that I could have put those words in quotes because in fact, there is no real race for the playoffs right now.

As my colleague Félix Forget said yesterday, the “race” is really boring in the East and in the West.

In the West, the Flames are four points away from the Wild (with a game in hand… but without the tiebreaker) and it’s even worse in the East, as the habs have a six-point lead over the Red Wings and the Rangers.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

The Red Wings are ahead of the Rangers because they have a game in hand. But if the Canadiens win tonight, the Detroit team will find itself in the same position as the Rangers.

Yesterday, the Rangers lost. They have five games left to catch up with the Canadiens, who have 85 points. It will be tough to do.

The New York team, which is one of the big disappointments in the NHL this year (we also say hello to the Predators and the Bruins), is really lining up to miss the playoffs.

Clearly, Chris Drury did not manage to create a family atmosphere through his decisions throughout the season. At the habs, this is an aspect that has really made a difference.

And in the Rangers’ locker room, you can feel that the guys are discouraged.

Peter Laviolette (we seem to understand in New York why he changes teams like he changes socks or not yet?) has no message for his players right now because he doesn’t go into the locker room after games.

It’s different from the family atmosphere in Montreal, a team that (on paper) doesn’t really have a reason to be ahead of the Rangers in 2024-2025.

The guys in the Montreal locker room believe in it. There is no Artemi Panarin talking about the team’s “terrible” game. The guys clearly know they’re going to miss the playoffs in the Big Apple.

Note that right now, the Canadiens have a 87.2% chance of making the playoffs – so almost seven chances out of eight. A win tonight would bring the habs to over 90% chance, according to MoneyPucks. Still.

Winning tonight would be a big blow for the Canadiens, then.

Overtime

– Luckily, he went to get help.

– Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé: 1500 games. [LP]

– Certainly.

– Wow.

– To follow. #IvanDemidov

– Nice.

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Top-5 : The Blues’ winning streak stops at 12

Quiet night in the NHL as only five games were on the schedule.

The Canadiens did not play: Martin St-Louis’ men will face the Red Wings tonight at the Bell Centre.

That being said, let’s see what happened elsewhere in the league:

1: Blues’ winning streak ends at 12

Okay. We started to believe that the Blues were really unbeatable… but that’s not the case.

Connor Hellebuyck only had to make 14 saves on 15 shots to sign his 44th (!) win of the season.

The Blues were never really threatening in the game and the Jets took advantage of it.

The game ended with a score of 3-1, as the Jets scored in an empty net.

For the Jets, it’s a 53rd win this season.

And for the Blues… it’s a first loss since March 13.

2: Eastern Conference standings remain unchanged

We were watching the Rangers last night, who hosted the Lightning at home.

Colleague Félix Forget just published a post after the game… to say that the Rangers got washed.

In the end, it means that the standings in the East have not changed.

The Canadiens still have a nice lead and if they win tonight against the Wings, they will really put themselves in a good position for the playoffs:

(Credit: NHL.com)

3: When Byfield and Kuemper put on a show

Quinton Byfield is a good hockey player.

Want proof?

Watch the MAGNIFICENT goal he scored last night. This can’t be learned, skills like that:

Wow!

But Byfield wasn’t the only one who wanted to put on a show against the Kraken.

If the Kings won 2-1… they also have to thank Darcy Kuemper, who made one of the saves of the year in the NHL:

The Kings’ win means the team is assured of participating in the playoffs this season.

The Kings had a slightly slower start… but everything has been rolling smoothly for several weeks now.

4: Big win for the Flames

We transport ourselves to the third period of the game between the Flames and the Sharks.

The Flames absolutely had to win… and they were trailing 1-0.

But the Flames understood the message: they knew they had to come out of there with a win.

They scored three goals in the third period to make it happen and won 3-2:

The Flames are now just four small points behind the Wild… and they also have a game in hand over the Minnesota team.

The Wild has four games left to play, while the Flames have five.

Will they be able to get their ticket to the playoffs?

One thing is for sure, it will take wins from now until the end of the season…

5: Young Ducks take care of the Oilers

There is a nice future in Anaheim.

The Ducks have several talented young players and last night, we saw why Cutter Gauthier is one of the good rookies this season in the NHL.

The former Flyers player scored two goals (his 16th and 17th) to reach the 40-point plateau in 24-25:

Cutter Gauthier was good, but Mason McTavish too.

The Ducks won 3-2 against the Oilers and it’s also thanks to the great left-handed center player, who scored a beautiful goal with his magic hands:

The Ducks won’t make the playoffs, but there are really encouraging signs there.

They will be dangerous before long. It remains to be seen when they will be able to turn the last corner of their reconstruction…

Overtime

– With reason.

– A real one!

– It’s heating up.

– Great save.

– The best scorers of the evening:

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Tonight, we’re keeping a close eye on the Islanders and the Blue Jackets:

(Credit: Google)
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What Ivan Demidov has accomplished in the KHL this season is without precedent

Yesterday afternoon, Ivan Demidov’s season came to an end in the KHL. The SKA was eliminated… and even though some had hoped to see the Habs be able to bring him back to finish the year, we’re more likely to see him finish the year in the VHL.

He would have the opportunity to play with his brother… and on June 1st, he will be able to come to Montreal, as he will be released from his contractual obligations in Russia.

That being said, even though it’s been a frustrating year for Demidov in terms of his playing time being managed all wrong, he still amassed 49 points in 65 games. For a rookie who turned 19 in December and was facing adults, that’s very far from being bad.

He finished the season as the top scorer on his team, after all.

And that impresses a lot Craig Button, who spoke about Demidov on the Recrutes Draftcast, and who had this to say about the young player:

What Ivan Demidov accomplished in the KHL this season is unprecedented. – Craig Button

Button explains his point like this: Demidov wasn’t just a good rookie in the KHL, he was actually one of the league’s best players. And that’s not common for players of his age in the KHL.

Button insists that Demidov already plays like a player who has the assets to be successful in the NHL… and even though we can think that there will be an adaptation phase when he arrives in America, we can see in the kid’s game that he is a special talent.

Usually, in Russia, players of this age don’t play big minutes on good teams. In 2023-24, for example, Matvei Michkov was in the same situation as Demidov… and the SKA sent him on loan to another team rather than letting him shine in their colors.

Unfortunately, we shouldn’t expect to see Demidov come and give a boost to the Habs in the playoffs this season… but if we have to take away one thing from this sometimes laborious season, it’s that the young player did something exceptional for a player of his age in the KHL.

And if the Habs, who will almost certainly be a playoff team this year, add a player like that to their lineup next year, it won’t hurt…

Overtime

– It’s 2/3 of his goals, that.

– Wow.

– Indeed. I was talking about it earlier tonight.

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Rangers’ defeat: the race for the playoffs is now annoying in the NHL

Tonight, the Canadiens’ fans were watching what was happening at Madison Square Garden, as the Rangers hosted the Lightning.

To keep their playoff hopes alive, the Rangers really needed to win.

That being said, the Rangers didn’t have the energy of desperation in the first period, and the Lightning took advantage of it…

Three times rather than once.

Nikita Kucherov, Yanni Gourde, and Brayden Point all scored… and after 20 minutes, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead. And, by doing so, it felt more like playoffs in Montreal than ever.

In the second period, the Rangers bombarded the Lightning’s net (18 shots against only five for Tampa Bay)… but they were only able to score one goal.

Mika Zibanejad was the only scorer of the period.

That being said, the story of the match was the brilliant performance of Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning’s goalkeeper was on fire… and he made 39 saves to help the Lightning win.

Brayden Point added a fourth goal in the late third period with a powerplay goal… and Brandon Hagel completed the scoring in an empty net. The Lightning won 5-1.

Note that Alexis Lafreniere received a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the first period. He apparently made a comment to a referee that did not please the latter… and he was punished.

Yes, there is frustration among the Rangers right now… and the loss tonight, which pretty much nails the team’s coffin, won’t help.

Overtime

With the Lightning’s win, the Canadiens maintain a six-point lead over their closest pursuers in the playoff race in the East. The Red Wings have a game in hand over the Habs… but unlike the Rangers, they don’t have the tiebreaker over the Habs.

At this point, it would take a real catastrophe for the Habs not to make the playoffs. If they win against the Red Wings in regulation time tomorrow, it won’t be official… but it will be really close.

The question now is which Habs team will show up in the playoffs. We know the team is functioning in sequences this season (they’ve added four wins since the publication of this graph)… and we hope it’s this Habs team that we’ll see in the playoffs (assuming they avoid catastrophe in the next 10 days, of course).

The playoff race in the East is becoming quickly uneventful… and with the same scenario happening in the West (the Blues have won 12 straight games), it won’t be as exciting a finish to the schedule as last year in the Bettman circuit.

Look for yourselves: we already have a good idea of the 16 teams that will be there.

(Credit: Screenshot/NHL.com)