When the Montreal Canadiens traded Brendan Gallagher to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, there was some symmetry to the transaction.Gallagher made it clear that if he had to leave the Canadiens, going back to his hometown and playing for the Canucks would be his preference. As a recognition of everything Gallagher did for the franchise over his 14 seasons in Montreal, the Canadiens did everything in their power to make that preference a reality.But the symmetry comes from the fact Gallagher is leaving a team coming out of a rebuild and going to a team that is entering one, and Gallagher’s role in the Canadiens’ successful rebuild can’t be discounted when considering why the Canucks were eager to bring him aboard.“You want to leave the team better than when you showed up,” Gallagher said after the trade Monday. “That’s no different for any player anywhere. That’s all I tried to do. When I showed up as a young player, I had so many good veteran players that showed me the right way to do things and how to be a proper pro. I just tried to pass those lessons along to the young kids that came through there.“It’s fun to see the young kids grow into mature men and handle different situations. I’m definitely looking forward to watching these guys play. We’ll be keeping tabs on each other. I think they’re in a great spot here moving forward and you wish them nothing but the best.”The Canadiens’ young core has benefited from Gallagher’s presence since the rebuild began in 2022, so when we had a chance to sit down with him at a Montreal cafe a few weeks ago, we wanted to pick his brain a bit on that young core and get some insight into what they are like.Winners and losers from the 2026 NHL DraftScott WheelerNick SuzukiWhen Suzuki was named captain of the Canadiens on Sept. 12, 2022 at their season-opening golf tournament, he had Gallagher by his side. There was some thought as to maybe Gallagher being named captain, but entering a rebuild, making Suzuki the youngest captain in franchise history just seemed to make sense.It might also have been the first sign that perhaps Gallagher would not be around to see the process through to completion.So Gallagher was at Suzuki’s side that day as an alternate captain, and not front and centre. But he’s been at Suzuki’s side ever since, sitting next to him in the dressing room and guiding him through his captaincy as he attempted to establish himself as an NHL star.“I remember when he was named captain and I tried maybe to take care of the stuff he was a little less comfortable with, and then he grows into it and it becomes more natural for him,” Gallagher said. “But there’s certain aspects where maybe speaking up in the room, he doesn’t need to be doing that all the time. So maybe just, you see an opportunity, you step in. But you don’t want to overtake him. You know it’s his team and you let him be the leader that he is.“What Suzy does so well is he shows up. In a big game, you know you can rely on Suze. And you don’t want him thinking about other things and distracting himself from that. You want him to be himself. Like any leader, if you try to be somebody you’re not, guys are going to see right through that and you’re going to be seen as a phony. You’ve got to be true to who you are.”Off the ice, it would appear Suzuki has a borderline unhealthy relationship with fantasy football.“I don’t think people realize how into fantasy football he is,” Gallagher said. “He’s probably got about seven or eight dynasty leagues. He has our team league. He’s in the training staff’s league. He’s got a league with all his buddies. He is incredibly dialled into it.