After the 2015-16 season, it looked like Alex Galchenyuk was going to break the bank when his contract expired.
Now that his contract is all but over (he’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1st), it doesn’t sound like he’s going to land that big deal after all.
Galchenyuk scored 30 goals last season, but he followed that up by scoring 17 goals in 61 games this season.
The fact that his production dipped obviously doesn’t help his case. The other thing that will bring down his market value, is that he hasn’t figured out the defensive part of his game.
Two of his head coaches, Michel Therrien and Claude Julien, clearly didn’t trust him to play center, which is where the Canadiens planned on playing him when they drafted him third overall in 2012.
At the start of the playoffs, the 23-year-old’s play had dropped off so much that Julien opted to play him on the team’s fourth line.
So instead of hitting a home run on his next contract, it looks like Galchenyuk will have to prove himself all over again.
“We still haven’t had any discussions, but I have a feeling we’ll begin talking in the next week or so,” said Galchenyuk’s agent Pat Brisson, per La Presse (quotes have been translated).
“We won’t say no to a one-year contract either. We’ll continue studying Galchenyuk’s case and we’ll look at what he can get in arbitration.”
This should be an interesting negotiation between his camp and Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin.
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