Canadiens' Gallagher Hopes To Play On

Brendan Gallagher is having a great year with the Montreal Canadiens, after having a couple of down seasons, he's doing much better and embracing the role he's been cast in by coach Martin St-Louis.

In an interview with La Presse's Richard Labbe, the gritty right winger mentioned that as things stands, if he plays through the end of his contract, at the end of the 2026-27 season, he will have played in 998 games.

Related: Canadiens: Gallagher Didn't Find The Fountain Of Youth

Gallagher also adds he has no intention of requesting a trade to go win a Stanley Cup elsewhere like Raymond Bourque did at the end of his career. There's a lot of hockey left to be played before Gallagher needs a new contract, but if he can keep up his current level of play and is willing to take a pay cut, GM Kent Hughes may consider a 35+ contract.

In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to see him end his career the same way Tomas Plekanec did. After being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline, the Czech veteran came back to Montreal as a free agent and signed a 35+ contract which allowed him to reach the 1,000 games milestone. Then, he agreed to have his contract terminated and retired.

For now though, Gallagher can focus on the many milestones he's been reaching and will reach this season. Tonight's game will be the 790th of his career with the Canadiens, 23rd on the all-time list. He will only need three more games to overtake Saku Koivu in 22nd place. He's currently the 18th all-time goal scorer with the Habs, only five goals behind the above-mentioned Plekanec. Given the fact he's already scored 10 goals this year, odds are he'll overtake him before the end of the season.

He only needs seven more assist to catch up to Max Pacioretty in 38th place in franchise history for helpers and four more points to catch up to Doug Harvey in 30th place when it comes to points.

Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Brendan Gallagher

Whichever way you look at it, it's going to be a busy year for Gallagher, not only because of the milestone chases, but also because he'll soon be a dad for the first time.

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