VANCOUVER — The Brendan Gallagher train is gaining steam. But it’s difficult to know at this stage who or how many are driving the locomotive and where the train will go.

With his experience and leadership, professionalism and hometown, the Montreal Canadiens' winger would certainly check a lot of boxes for the Vancouver Canucks.

The former Vancouver Giants junior, who moved with his family to Metro Vancouver from Edmonton at age 12, could be a crowd favourite if he joins the Canucks in the wake of Gallagher’s declaration last week that he needs to move on from the Canadiens after spending 14 National Hockey League seasons in Montreal.

A poll on the Donnie and Dhali television show had 82 per cent of respondents saying the Canucks should acquire Gallagher.

But the acquisition cost is where things get tricky for Vancouver. There is also the matter of a $4-million salary the 34-year-old is due in the final year of his contract, which carries a cap hit of $6.5 million.

With the Canucks at the embryonic stage of a rebuild under a newly-promoted regime, general manager Ryan Johnson and co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin have emphasized the need for careful, step-by-step construction, and vowed not to rush the process or take shortcuts through trade or free agency.

All of them saw first-hand the mistakes previous regimes under the Jims, Benning and Rutherford, made trying to build a winner.

Johnson declined Tuesday to........

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