Quoting: McRanteskog
lets look. hes got 5yr at 6.5mil remaining (sheeeesh)
19-20 - 43pts and missed 12 games due to injury/illness
20-21 - 23pts and missed 21 games due to injury/illness
21-22 - 20pts and missed 26 games due to injury/illness
at 6.5mil, he should be producing minimum 55+ pts/season and is nowhere near those levels nor is he staying healthy..
We are looking at a cap dump with heavy compensation or a buyout here if you ask me (IF he gets moved this offseason).
Its in MTLs best interest to hold onto him now in hopes he has a good 22-23 season and trade him when his value is higher.
Ideally you don't want a player missing that many games, but his injuries aren't chronic. They are bad luck, like taking a puck to the hand. It's not knee, hip, back, concussion, where you can expect it to be a regular occurrence.
His injuries are a result of putting himself in dangerous areas of the ice. Coaches love those players and they are necessary.
How often do you see skill players or otherwise soft players criticized for not going to the dirty areas? Every coach wants those guys. Whether they have them for 60 games or 80, they'll take it.
There's no question that teams want Gallagher.
Now GMs have to find a way to make it work. Be that money in/out or retention. Gallagher is not grossly overpaid. Using his raw totals is misleading.
In '20 and '21, he had his 3rd best p/60 pace both years. He was also on pace for 30 goals. That would have been 4 consecutive 30 goal campaigns were it not for bad luck with injuries.
A 4 time 30 goal scorer is easily worth that contract and the 50 point total you suggest would have been met as well extrapolated for a full season.
Gallagher is from 10-30th among RW for total goals, per game, and per 60 over the last 3 years. Including his injuries and this season's poor results.
Teams would want him. His hands getting injured is the only real concern and blown out of proportion (how often does one player get hit in the hands by Weber caliber slapshots?). He's only 30 and still has at least a few good years in him.
His contract is a bargain if he can return to a 30 goal pace and only miss a handful of games. It's a problem if he repeats this season's results in a better situation (not on a historically bad team).
A couple picks and get him at $5M or less, either via retention or sending a contract back, isn't bad at all. Even if there's conditions on the picks, Montreal will take that bet. He's going to be better next year regardless of where he plays, the only question is how much.