Alex Galchenyuk signs a new deal

The Colorado Eagles, AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, have announced that they've signed veteran NHL forward Alex Galchenyuk to one year contract.

Galchenyuk had previously signed a professional tryout contract with the Avs, but was injured in training camp and subsequently released from his contract.

The 28 year old forward put up six goals and 21 points in 60 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season. If he eventually turns his AHL deal into an NHL deal with the Avs' roster it will be his 7th NHL franchise is just the past four years. In total he has suited up for the Montreal Canadies, Arizona Coyotes 2x, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Milwaukee, WI native is, of course, the former 3rd overall pick from the infamous 2012 NHL Entry Draft and it's fair to say that his career has not gone as projected. Things could be worse though... he could have the career path of the man chosen in the top spot, Nail Yakupov.

Frankly, I feel like Galchenyuk will be in tough to lock down a spot with the Avalanche even if he proves his worth with the Eagles, but I appreciate that he's not giving up on his NHL dream. He has had to endure some unfortunate injuries over the course of his career and he has actually put up some stellar numbers when healthy. He's six years removed from a 30 goal campaign and he could provide the Avs, or another NHL team for that matter, with some depth offensive production.

Interestingly enough, despite bouncing around the entire hockey world for most of his career he has played just 6 AHL games, all with the Toronto Maple Leafs' affiliate Toronto Marlies in the 2020-21 season. He put up two goals and eight points in those six games and proved pretty definitively that he's an NHL calibre player, if not a particularly great NHL calibre player. Again, he has produced when healthy but the knock on Galchenyuk his entire career is that he can't stay healthy. He has managed just two full 82 game NHL campaigns in his career, all with the Canadiens when he was in his early 20s.