Alex Galchenyuk is on the trading block.

It seems like the writing is on the wall for one Alex Galchenyuk. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward has struggled to live up to the expectation set before him since joining the rank of the organization and now it sounds like the Penguins may have finally run out of patience with the former first round draft pick in 2012.

Earlier this week Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford made comments during an interview that can only be called eyebrow raising. The veteran general manager knows very well what he is doing and he made comments that clearly suggested that Galchenyuk was a very likely trade candidate for his organization moving forward. In fact by the sound of things it seemed as though Rutherford expected Galchenyuk to be completely phased out of the Penguins roster once their players come back from various injuries.

“The fact of the matter is, when we’re totally healthy, he’s going to have to work very hard just to get in the top 12,” Rutherford said earlier this week. “That’s just the way it is, because we have a lot of guys playing well. So, that’s the good news and the bad news.”

Over the weekend Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman shared some additional thoughts on the recent talks surrounding Galchenyuk, including the mention of one team in particular that might be sniffing around at the opportunity the Penguins are currently presenting to the public.

"Penguins are looking around to see what fits are available for them," said Friedman as per Sportsnet. "I do think Buffalo was one of the teams that looked at him and I am sure there are more, but Galchenyuk is somebody that could be finding a new home."

It is a precipitous fall for the former top 3 pick at the NHL draft, one that has now seen him bounce from team to team to team in recent seasons. The Montreal Canadiens seemed to give up on him when they traded him to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi and the Coyotes appear to have done the same when they gave him up to acquire Phil Kessel from the aforementioned Penguins. Now the Penguins want to flip him yet again, but you have to imagine that this now puts his value as an NHL player at an all time low.