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Alex Galchenyuk signs one year contract with Senators; can he bounce back?

Ottawa Senators

SAINT PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 23: Alex Galchenyuk #27 of the Minnesota Wild skates with the puck against the St. Louis Blues during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 23, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Alex Galchenyuk is getting another fresh start with another new team after signing a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.

It will pay him $1.05 million for the season.

For Galchenyuk, this is a classic “prove it” contract as he attempts to show that he can still be a productive NHL player after a couple of disappointing seasons.

This will be his fifth different team since the start of the 2017-18 season, as he has gone from Montreal to Arizona (traded for Max Domi), from Arizona to Pittsburgh (for Phil Kessel), and from Pittsburgh to Minnesota (part of the Jason Zucker trade) during that time.

He has failed to establish himself as a top contributor in each of those spots, continuing a rapid fall after such a promising start to his career.

He scored just eight goals and 24 total points in 59 games this past season with the Penguins and Wild. Effort was not a problem for him in Pittsburgh, and the natural talent is still there. He just simply could not put it all together and make any sort of a meaningful impact offensively. And if he is not making a meaningful impact offensively, he really does not bring much else to the table away from the puck.

Still, this is a completely no-risk signing for Ottawa, and is could be a nice opportunity for Galchenyuk.

The Senators are desperate for any sort of offense they can find, and Galchenyuk should get an opportunity to play decent minutes, get power play time, and perhaps re-boost his value. That could theoretically give the Senators another trade chip come deadline time.

Along with Galchenyuk, Ottawa has also added Evgenii Dadonov, Austin Watson, Erik Gudbranson, and Matt Murray to its roster this offseason.

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.