Meet the New Guy: Get to know more about Alex Galchenyuk

The inevitable has happened. After countless rumors, the Minnesota Wild have finally traded Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In exchange, the Wild are getting a first-round draft pick, prospect Calen Addison and Alex Galchenyuk.

Galchenyuk, 25, was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Galchenyuk broke out for 30 goals and 56 points in 2015-16, but fell out of favor in Montreal just a couple years later when he failed to adapt as a center and began playing on the wing.

He was eventually traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi, where he faced a similar issue. The Coyotes seemed to believe Galchenyuk would be able to help solve their issues at center, but he wound up shifting between wing and center once again.

Galchenyuk was moved once again last June — this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, with his new team, Galchenyuk just couldn’t quite find his footing. On the contrary, it seems the Wisconsin native wore out his welcome in the Steel City. Through 45 games, he’s posted just five goals and 17 points on the season.

To learn more about Galchenyuk’s time in Pittsburgh, we reached out to PensBurgh’s Jimmy Rixner for insight:

It’s fair to be concerned about Galchenyuk’s track record. He’s now on his fourth team in less than three full seasons, which is a bit of a red flag. However, Galchenyuk is still relatively young and may be able to find the right fit in Minnesota. Bill Guerin clearly seems to be a fan. After all, this is the second year in a row that he (or the team employing him) made a trade for Galchenyuk.

Perhaps there’s more to this move than meets the eye.