Galchenyuk may have options to play in 2023-24 after all
The last 30 days have been rather rough on former 3rd overall pick, Alex Galchenyuk, who has been a part of a series of roster moves and an embarrassing public arrest. It seems like his NHL-career will be on hold for the time being, but he does still have some playing options as he eyes a move to Russia with a few teams expressing interest.
Galchenyuk was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Ryan Johansen on the 24th of June. The Predators then informed him that he would not be signed and was thus entering unrestricted free agency.
Galchenyuk signed with the Arizona Coyotes on the first day of free agency, agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract. 12 days later, he was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract and the reason became official a few days later.
He was arrested on the 9th of July after a hit-and-run incident, causing property damage. He had also threatened to kill a police officer, and was very inebriated. One of the threats he hurled towards the police officers was "One phone call and you're all dead, your whole family, your bloodline is dead".
On the 18th of July, Galchenyuk checked himself into the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. The 29-year-old has had somewhat of a journeyman career as he has played for 7 different teams across 11 seasons, including 6 teams since 2018-19.
Now it sounds like we can add another team to that list but it might be in the KHL as Salavat Yulaev Ufa has expressed interest in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native. He is of Belarusian descent but was born in the United States and has represented them internationally in the past.
The 29-year-old has struggled to live up to the pre-draft hype with just 146 goals and 354 points 654 games, including 99 of those points coming in his last 236 games.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 25 | 198 ANSWERS Galchenyuk may have options to play in 2023-24 after all Will Alex Galchenyuk ever play another NHL game? | ||
| No | 161 | 81.3 % |
| Yes | 37 | 18.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
