Brendan Gallagher, the NHL’s top scorer at even strength

Yesterday, I ended my day in the QUB studios, recording my (new) traditional weekly sports column on Rémi Villemure’s new show. For the occasion, Rémi invited Nicolas Cloutier to liven things up a bit. At the end, we had to make our predictions for the game against the Red Wings. Mine? A 5-0 victory for the Montrealers. Call me Maxime Machine Truman. I’ll push the note and double down: the Canadiens will also beat the Blackhawks 5-1 tomorrow night in Chicago. We’ll see if it was just luck, my case…Several things went right for the Habs last night: Oliver Kapanen scored again, Zachary Bolduc too (although I’m still worried about his groin injury), Jakub Dobes looked like a #1 goalie once again, Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson were fabulous, Arber Xhekaj and Alexandre Carrier were very good, Juraj Slafkovsky found the back of the net, Alex Newhook is showing us all his vision of the game… And Brendan Gallagher is on fire!

Gallagher, 33, had two assists and now has three points in two games in 2025-26.

Gallagher leads the Canadiens in scoring… and ranks sixth among all NHL players.He’s also the top scorer on the Bettman circuit at 5-on-5 and at even strength this morning, tied with Evgeni Malkin and Jack Eichel. He’s definitely dipped his toes in the fountain of youth again this summer. content-ads]Gallagher was said to be finished two or three years ago, but that wasn’t knowing the little warrior from Western Canada very well. As it turns out, the last two years of his $6.5 million contract won’t be as onerous as anticipated, especially with the salary cap going through the roof these days. Gallagher joked after the game yesterday, telling reporters that he’d seen Bolduc have 50-goal seasons in the QMJHL, so giving him the puck was a good idea. He’s right.It’s easy to forget, but Gallagher was the team’s third-highest scorer at even-strength last season.But…It wasn’t all good news for the Canadiens yesterday. Ivan Demidov needs to play more, Patrik Laine needs to be on the first power play, the Habs’ centers need to win more face-offs, and Lane Hutson needs to become the elite defenseman he was last year, especially if he wants to break the bank. This morning, Hutson is one of the only players on the Habs – along with the forwards in Laine’s line – yet to pick up a point this season. Is Hutson suffering from a second-year jinx? I think his difficulties have more to do with his stagnant negotiations. He asked his agents to start the season with a new contract, which he didn’t get.He didn’t ask for a new agent for nothing…

’Prolongation’

I find people too often ill-intentioned. I confessed towards the end of training camp that I didn’t like Noah Dobson’s camp because I expect more from a guy on a $9.5 million salary. A few hours later, Martin St-Louis admitted that the last game against the Senators had been Dobson’s best (and I agreed with him). On Wednesday, I thought Dobson was good, but I hated his defensive breakdown on the Maple Leafs’ fourth goal. Yesterday, I thought he was good overall. In two games, Dobson has one assist and a zero cumulative differential. He’s not having a bad start to the season, but I’m convinced he’ll give the team even more once he’s fully recovered from his groin injury and has become more familiar with the team’s defensive system. Is it still possible to say that a guy, no matter how good he is, could be even better? I hope so…It‘s all a question of expectations with Noah Dobson (and the others).