Montreal Canadiens: Three Free Agents The Habs Could Still Target (and afford)

Alex Galchenyuk

Okay, okay. Hear me out though.

Just two years ago, Galchenyuk was traded away from Montreal for Max Domi and the majority of fans were ready to riot. People were furious that the Habs could trade away a recent third overall pick who just scored 19 goals and had previously sniped 30 for a player who just scored nine the previous season.

He did just have a terrible season, and has been traded twice more since the Canadiens dealt him and now he has become a free agent as well, so the Arizona Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild have chosen to move on from him in a little more than a year.

So, it wasn’t a great year. But he did score 19 goals and 51 points in 2017-18 with the Habs. The following year he had 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games for the Coyotes. One of his regular linemates that season was Nick Cousins, so I don’t know how the Coyotes could have expected more.

They traded him to Pittsburgh where things just didn’t work for Galchenyuk. A late season trade saw him finish the year with seven points in 14 games with the Wild, while they trade to make him  a centre (he’s not a centre.)

Would a return to Montreal help him get back on track? He is not going to be the 30 goal scoring first line centre that we all thought he would be. But what if Paul Byron and Artturi Lehkonen aren’t scoring from the third line? Would Galchenyuk on a one-year deal worth $700,000 be the worst experiment alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Tyler Toffoli on an offensive third line?