Canucks trade Elias Pettersson to the Canadiens in viral blockbuster trade proposal
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Daniel Lucente
May 31, 2026 (1:39 PM)
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Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
A trade proposal making rounds on social media sends Michael Hage and Brendan Gallagher to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Elias Pettersson.
Pettersson has a six-year, $11.6 million cap hit.
The Montreal Canadiens just finished 48-24-10 with 106 points and reached the Eastern Conference Final before falling to Carolina.
The roster is young, fast, and built on entry-level value. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky are all contributing at a level that makes Pettersson's 51-point, minus-30 season look like a downgrade disguised as an upgrade.
That's the part every proposal misses. Pettersson's name still carries the weight of a 102-point season from three years ago.
His production no longer does.
Gallagher's contract solves itself without a trade
Gallagher has one year left at $6.5 million and nine forwards currently ahead of him on the depth chart.
Montreal doesn't need to attach him to a trade to clear space. The contract expires after 2026-27 regardless, and a buyout would save $2.67 million against next season's cap if Kent Hughes wants to move faster.
Using Gallagher as salary ballast to acquire a $11.6 million problem stretching through 2032 is the opposite of how this front office has operated since Hughes took over.
Hage is worth more to Montreal unsigned than Pettersson is on the books
Hage chose to return to Michigan for his junior season after putting up 52 points in 39 NCAA games.
The Canadiens hold his rights for two more years. Elliotte Friedman confirmed there is no friction between the player and the organization.
Trading a top center prospect still developing on a cost-controlled timeline for a declining forward locked in at star money through his thirties is a rebuild strategy, not a contender's move.
Montreal stopped rebuilding a year ago.
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