Montreal Canadiens: Does It Make Sense To Bring Back Alex Galchenyuk?

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin traded away Alex Galchenyuk. Does it make sense to bring him back?

The Montreal Canadiens current general manager, Marc Bergevin has made several trades that were not popular with the fan base at the time of the deal.

One of the biggest ones that comes to mind was the P.K. Subban deal that sent the beloved defenceman to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. No one would want him to redo that deal now.

Another unpopular decision was a trade that sent Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. No one would want that deal undone either, but would bringing Galchenyuk back make sense?

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Galchenyuk was the Canadiens third overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. Selecting him was Bergevin’s first major decision as the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. It was hoped that the player would develop into a big, skilled, first line centre that could score goals, create offence and approach point per game seasons.

It didn’t quite work out that way. But there were good times.

In his fourth season with the Canadiens, Galchenyuk set career highs with 30 goals and 56 points. It wasn’t a terrific season for the team, but it appeared to be the breakout that fans in Montreal were waiting for from the team’s highest draft pick since Doug Wickenheiser in 1980.

Unfortunately, he missed 21 games the following year, scoring 17 goals and 44 points in 61 games. That is a 23 goal and 59 point pace over a full season which would have been a career high in points but a step back in goal scoring.

The next season would end up being Galchenyuk’s last in Montreal, and he scored 19 goals and 51 points in 82 games. Again, that isn’t bad production, but when everyone is hoping for you to build on a 30 goal season, 19 just isn’t good enough.

Then, Galchenyuk was dealt and everyone in Montreal was ticked off because Domi had scored nine goals the previous season.

Domi made everyone forget about Galchenyuk when he scored 28 goals and 72 points in his first season with the Habs. He dipped to 17 goals and 44 points in 71 games this past season.

Meanwhile, Galchenyuk scored 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games in his first season with the Coyotes. That is pretty much on par with his 20 or so goals and 45-50 point seasons from his time in Montreal.

However, Galchenyuk was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in June of 2019 and things went downhill pretty quick. He scored just five goals and 17 points in 45 games with the Penguins before being traded to the Minnesota Wild. He had three goals and seven points in 14 games for the Wild.

Now, Galchenyuk is on the open market and waiting for someone to take a chance on him.

2019-20 was not a great season for Galchenyuk but he was a consistent 20 goal and 45 point scorer before this season.

With no takers so far, would Galchenyuk be willing to take a minimum wage offer from the Canadiens for next season? It would give him a chance to re-establish his value and hit the open market next offseason when teams are actually allowed to sell tickets to fans and make some income and therefore have a little more money to spend.

As for a fit on the roster, Galchenyuk would not be asked to be a top six scorer again. He could be a little insurance and a potential scoring threat from the third line left wing position. The Habs have Jonathan Drouin and Tomas Tatar on the left side, but there are questions about whether Paul Byron or Arturri Lehkonen can score enough to play on the third line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Tyler Toffoli.

Would Galchenyuk’s scoring ability be a better fit there? It could be. Considering he has no other options banging on his door right now, a cheap contract would be no risk for the Canadiens and could allow Galchenyuk to rebuild some value before being a UFA again.

If he doesn’t work out, he could just be put on waivers and his cap hit would disappear. If it does work out, the Canadiens could have another 20 goal scorer in their lineup next season.