Three players are officially done with the team and a massive announcement just followed
Brendan Gallagher and Martin St-Louis now sit at the front of a Canadiens summer that could get ruthless fast.
Stu Cowan's report hit because it did not stop at 1 name.
He mentioned Gallagher, Patrik Laine, and Samuel Montembeault as 3 players who will not be back with the Canadiens next season.
That is a heavy list.
And in Montreal, Gallagher is always the name that changes the temperature first.
For years, he was one of the faces of the room.
He was the guy throwing himself into traffic, fighting at the crease, dragging shifts back into the offensive zone, and giving the Bell Centre a player it could always recognize on effort alone.
Now it feels like the organization is finally turning the page.
That part did not come out of nowhere.
Gallagher's playoff role kept shrinking, and by the end of the Carolina series it looked more and more like the coaching staff had already made its decision on where he fits in the next phase.
Laine being included makes this even bigger.
Because that suggests Montreal is not only trimming around the edges. It suggests Kent Hughes may be ready to clear out multiple veterans or imperfect fits in one summer push.
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A huge announcement just arrived after three players were shown the door
Montembeault's name tells the same story from another angle.
If he is gone too, then the Canadiens are not only adjusting the forward group. They are also committing harder to a new goalie path and trusting the younger wave behind him.
That is what makes this rumor feel real.
Each name has separate logic.
Together, they look like a plan.
Gallagher feels like the emotional break.
Laine feels like the skill gamble that did not fully lock in.
Montembeault feels like the veteran who got squeezed by the timeline.
None of those decisions would be small on their own.
All 3 together would say something louder about where Montreal thinks it is headed.
And honestly, the biggest clue is Gallagher.
Once a player like that starts sounding movable, it means sentiment is losing its grip inside the organization. Teams do not move on from a long-time heartbeat unless they believe the next identity is already taking shape.
That is where the Canadiens may be now.
It would be a tough ending for 3 recognizable names.
It also might be the clearest sign yet that Montreal is done protecting the old version of this roster and is ready to hand more space to the next one.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 2, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||