Back in 2012, the Montreal Canadiens had the third-overall pick at the draft. When the opportunity to draft center Alex Galchenyuk came around, the organization didn’t hesitate to pounce even though the 6-foot-1 American had missed a lot of games because of a knee injury. The Habs had big hopes for the centerman, and for a while, it seemed like the selection would pay off.
Over the course of his first four seasons, Galchenyuk steadily improved, putting up 56 points in 82 games in his fourth campaign. However, the following year, his production declined. In his last three seasons with the Canadiens, he never got more than 51 points.
Canadiens: Big Rumor Surrounding Carey Price’s Contract
Canadiens: LJ Mooney Is In Good Company
Canadiens Defenseman Nearing New Milestone
According to Pat Hickey, who covered the Canadiens for decades, Galchenyuk’s most significant problem in Montreal was his father, as he would discuss with his son after every game, analysing the stats and telling him that the coaching staff wasn’t using him enough.
Eventually, the Canadiens had enough and traded him to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. He would only remain in Arizona for one season and then had stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Minnesota Wild, the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Coyotes (once more), and the Colorado Avalanche.
After he crashed his car into a sign in Scottsdale, Arizona, the forward threatened the police officers who arrived on the scene, and the incident led to the Coyotes terminating his contract. After that, he signed a league-minimum two-way deal with the Avalanche but spent most of his season in the AHL in 2022-23 before deciding to head to the KHL, where he has spent the last two seasons.
Last year, in his first campaign with Khabarovsk Amur, he put up 38 points in 59 games. The team struggled and even suffered five straight shutout losses, with a combined score of 0-21, which led to their coach, Andrei Martemyanov, being fired. However, his replacement, Viktor Kostyuchenok, couldn’t right the ship, and the organization appointed a new coach this summer: Alexander Galchenyuk Sr.
The new coach wasted no time in making his son the team’s captain. It will be interesting to see if the Galchenyuk pair can lead Amur to a better finish than last year, when they were second to last in the Eastern Conference.
Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.