Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Marc Bergevin, Free Agent, Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli, Geoff Molson, Gerry Johansson, Pat Brisson, Contract

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — I was caught off guard last week, when the Canadiens announced that they agreed to terms with Tyler Toffoli to a four-year contract worth $17-million. I thought that Marc Bergevin had completed his off-season shopping list.

“What I like about him is that he’s a player who has won two Stanley Cups, who can play all the positions – on the right, on the left – on the power play, he kills penalties, and he brings leadership. So we’re bringing in a guy with experience to our group of young player, and I also see a player who can produce offensively,” explained the general manager.

“My decision on coming to Montreal: just knowing the fan base and how passionate they are, and you look at the players on the team and what they’ve done this offseason already with who they’ve added to what I already think is a good team. It’s a really exciting time to be Canadien,” said Toffoli.

“[Toffoli] pretty much scored everywhere he’s been his entire life. He’s the same age group as me, so I know him a little bit, I’ve played against him. We actually played on the same team in a couple of summer hockey tournaments in Montreal, strangely enough. His entire life he’s put the puck in the net, he’s found ways to score. He was on a Stanley Cup-winning team. He’s a guy who’s going to bring that experience,” said Brendan Gallagher on the acquisition.

I think that this was another good off-season move by Bergevin, as Toffoli should help with scoring and on the power-play. In 2019-20, the Habs finished 18th and 22nd overall respectively in those categories.

Toffoli has scored 20 or more goals in four of the last six seasons. In 2016-17, he scored 16 times in 63 games, which prorated represents 20 goals in a full season. In 54 career post season games, Toffoli has scored 11 goals and added 14 assists.

When the news broke, Canucks fans where upset that the team wasn’t able to sign Toffoli to a new contract.

Gallagher Contract Extension

On Wednesday, the Canadiens announced they signed Brendan Gallagher to a six-year $39-million contract extension. The deal also includes a six-team no trade clause and a full no movement clause. The agreed terms were near to what I was anticipating.

“I guess it doesn’t matter if every team is interested in me now, I got one team, the one team that I wanted to show the interest. I’m very fortunate to be remaining with the Habs, I can sense that they are just as happy to have me around. It’s a relationship that’s been working for eight years so far, so for the next seven years I hope it remains the same,” said an excited Gallagher.

At 5-foot-9-inches, there’s always questions on how Gallagher’s style of play on the ice will impact his longevity in the National Hockey League (NHL). It’s a risk that Bergevin felt comfortable taking on a player that he said that all the general managers, coaches, and players want on their team. Bergevin added that he wished that he had a teammate like Gallagher when he was playing in the NHL.

“Every time I hear that, I laugh. I put quite a bit of work in the summers to prepare my body to be ready” responded Gallagher about the concerns on the length of the contract. The same questions were also raised when he signed his current contract that’s expiring at the end of the 2020-21 season.

“I’m going to continue to play the same way, I’m not worried about my body not holding up. That’s what the summers are all about, we have enough time to prepare it and keep it ready. I feel just as good as I did a few years ago and I hope it stays the same way,” added the 28-year-old.

“His character. There’s high maintenance, there’s middle maintenance, there’s low maintenance and there’s no maintenance. And that’s Brendan Gallagher. He just loves… he’s a hockey player through his bones. And that’s what I love about him,” Bergevin on his appreciation of Gallagher.

Never in Doubt

I thought that Rick Dhaliwal from TSN 1040 was trying to draw attention to himself on Tuesday when he tweeted that talks on an extension between the Canadiens and Gallagher had broken off. Later in the day, Gallagher’s agent Gerry Johansson confirmed the report to TSN’s Pierre Lebrun. I owe an apology to Dhaliwal.

I was shocked by these developments as there was no indication that things would head in that direction. At the end of September, Bergevin had told RDS’ Francois Gagnon that Gallagher would be signed to a long term deal and become the team’s highest paid forward. Geoff Molson was on-board with the idea.

“Brendan Gallagher is a leader. He scores goals and works so hard and yes it’s true that he’s someone that’s really important to the team and I support Marc and his plan to re-sign him long term,” the owner told RDS on October 1st.

When Bergevin met the media to discuss the Toffoli deal, the general manager fell back to his policy that he won’t talk about contract negotiations in public, when he was asked about the reports. Following the contract extension, Bergevin said that he didn’t want to comment on the reports, because they were false.

“It was hard if I’m being honest, it was tough. It was really the first time since I’ve been a Montreal Canadien, where that thought went through my head that I was going to have to make a decision about my future, whether I wanted to remain a Montreal Canadien, which was hard for me. It’s the only team I’ve ever known, you really fall in love with everything about it,” Gallagher commented on the break in the negotiations. “It may have felt like a pretty short turn around for everyone else, but for me it felt like an eternity.”

Louis Jean from TVA Sports reported that Bergevin and Johansson had a discussion on Tuesday evening, and finalized the deal in 20 minutes the following afternoon.

Bergevin was emotional when he spoke about Gallagher last week, and it wasn’t the same type of emotion that went viral when Dale Weise scored a game winning goal in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2014 playoffs.

“He means a lot to our hockey team. Since day one when I became a general manager, he’s been on our team. You saw in the playoffs: he got cross-checked in the face, and he wouldn’t want to miss a shift. He didn’t want to leave. In the past I’ve seen guys who get slashed, they get a fingernail missing and they’re finding a way not to play. Gallagher is everything you want in a hockey player, and that’s what I love about him,” Bergevin said as he struggled to hold back his emotions.

“That respect that Berge obviously shows me, it goes right back his way, and I have a tremendous appreciation for everything he’s done for our team, but especially for me. Everybody needs someone to give him an opportunity, to give him a chance and his first year here, was my first year here and he was part of the group that were able to give me a shot in this league” responded Gallagher on the emotion shown by the general manager.

Canadiens Connection podcast

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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