The NHL is considered the top professional hockey league in the world. It is comprised of 32 teams, with each team carrying a roster of up to 23 players. This means that the NHL employs about 730 professional hockey players.
In addition to the NHL, there are professional leagues in North America, Europe, and Asia. Each team has a roster of its own players. Some of the largest outside the NHL include the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia and several European countries, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), and the Finnish Liiga.
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Accounting for all the different professional leagues around the world, it’s estimated that there are tens of thousands of professional hockey players globally. However, the exact number is difficult to determine.
A Story of One Professional Hockey Player: Alex Galchenyuk
Alex Galchenyuk was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, third overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. In the young hockey prospect, the Canadiens saw a player who possessed an impressive skillset and a lot of potential. Specifically, they believed he could become a productive NHL center. Heading into the draft, he had already established himself as an elite scorer in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Sarnia Sting, where he recorded 83 points in just 68 games during the 2010-11 season.
Despite suffering a significant knee injury that cost him all but the last few games of his draft season, the Canadiens were impressed with Galchenyuk’s combination of size, speed, skill, and scoring ability. They believed he would develop into a top-line NHL player.
In fact, Galchenyuk started well. He put together an impressive rookie season in 2012-13 when he scored nine goals and added 18 assists (for 27 points) in 48 games. That success seemed to confirm the Canadiens’ draft assessment.
Related: Recent Maple Leafs’ Roster Moves: Galchenyuk, Vesey, Der-Arguchintsev
But it didn’t last. All told, Galchenyuk spent six seasons with the Canadiens, scoring 108 goals and adding 147 assists (for 255 points) in 418 games. He scored 30 goals one season and 20 another, but the Canadiens decided to trade him to the Arizona Coyotes.
Galchenyuk Begins His Hockey Pilgrimage
Trade One: Galchenyuk Moves to Arizona
On June 15, 2018, the Canadiens traded Galchenyuk to the Coyotes for Max Domi. At that time, Domi was a young forward who had just completed his third season in the NHL with the Coyotes. He was a highly-regarded prospect who had recorded 36 goals and 99 assists (for 137 points) in 222 career NHL games up to that point.
The trade was seen as a win-win for both teams. Both Galchenyuk and Domi had the potential to be key contributors for their new clubs. It was value for value.
Trade Two: Galchenyuk Moves to Pittsburgh
On June 29, 2019, the Coyotes traded Galchenyuk along with Pierre-Olivier Joseph to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Dane Birks [who’s now playing with the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL], Phil Kessel, and a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Galchenyuk only played a single season in Arizona. In that season, he scored 19 goals and added 22 assists (for 41 points) in 72 games. It was the last time he would score double-digit goals. Moving to Pittsburgh with Galchenyuk was Joseph who, at the time, was a highly-regarded defensive prospect who had also been selected in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft [Joseph still plays with the Penguins].
Related: Penguins Prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph Is the Real Deal
The Coyotes picked up former Maple Leafs’ player and enigmatic NHL veteran Kessel. After joining the Penguins in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2015, he had been a key member of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championship teams in both 2016 and 2017.
Trade Three: Galchenyuk Moves to Minnesota
Less than a year later, on Feb. 10, 2020, the Penguins traded Galchenyuk, Calen Addison, and a conditional first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft to the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker.
Galchenyuk had moved to Pittsburgh a few months earlier, but he had struggled. In 45 games, he’d scored just five goals and added 12 assists (for 17 points). Addison was a highly-regarded defensive prospect who had been selected in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. [He’s currently having a breakout 2022-23 season with the Wild.]
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
In that trade, the Penguins got Zucker, a speedy forward who’s still playing in Pittsburgh. [This season, Zucker has scored 15 goals and added 18 assists (for 33 points) in 52 games.]
Signing Four: Galchenyuk Moves to Ottawa
After the 2019-20 season, the Wild did not re-sign Galchenyuk; and, on Oct. 28, 2020, he signed a one-year, $1.05 million contract with the Ottawa Senators. He had a disappointing season split between the Penguins and Wild, scoring just eight goals and adding only 16 assists (for 24 points) in 59 games.
Related: Montreal Canadiens: Moving Alex Galchenyuk Made Sense
At the time, the Senators were young and rebuilding. They hoped Galchenyuk could bounce back and provide some much-needed offense. However, he played only 11 games in Ottawa, scoring a single goal and adding three assists before he was once again traded.
Trade Five: Galchenyuk Moves to Carolina
On Feb. 13, 2021, the Senators traded Galchenyuk and Cedric Paquette to the Carolina Hurricanes for Ryan Dzingel. Galchenyuk had played just 11 games in Ottawa before the trade. Paquette was a physical forward who had been part of a Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning but had also struggled in Ottawa. [Paquette is currently playing in the KHL.]
In exchange for Galchenyuk and Paquette, the Senators got Dzingel, who had previously had two 20-goal seasons in Ottawa. It was a low-risk trade for both teams because all four players would become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. [Dzingel now plays with the American Hockey League (AHL)’s Chicago Wolves.]
Trade Six: Galchenyuk Moves to Toronto
By this time in his career, Galchenyuk’s NHL stock was falling. Yet, there was still some hope that he could revive a career that had seen him score 30 goals in 2015-16 in Montreal. He was a prime candidate for a Kyle Dubas low-stakes wager.
Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Galchenyuk, Nylander & Tavares
On Feb. 15, 2021, just two days after he was traded to Carolina, Galchenyuk was on the move to the Maple Leafs in exchange for David Warsofsky [who’s now playing in Germany] and Egor Korshkov [who played a single game with the Maple Leafs in 2019-20 and is now back playing in the KHL].
Galchenyuk did not play a game in Carolina before being traded. However, when he hit Toronto, the organization took a slower approach with him. For the first time in his career, Galchenyuk was moved to the AHL. Could he be massaged back into form and eventually add depth to the Maple Leafs’ forward group?
From all accounts, Galchenyuk accepted the demotion without attitude and worked hard to make the team. After six games with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, where he scored two goals and added six assists, he was promoted to the Maple Leafs and ended the regular season and played during the team’s postseason (from “Alex Galchenyuk was broken. The Maple Leafs hope to build him back up,” Jonas Siegel & Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 31/03/2021).
During his stint with the Maple Leafs, he played 26 games and scored four goals, and added eight assists (for 12 points). During the offseason, there were rumors that Toronto had offered him a league-minimum contract that he had declined. There were also rumors that he believed he could find more lucrative employment opportunities with other NHL teams.
Signing Seven: Galchenyuk Signs PTO with Arizona
On Sep 21, 2021, Galchenyuk agreed to a professional tryout offer (PTO) with a former team, the Coyotes. That’s where he played last season. In 60 games, he scored six goals and added 15 assists (for 21 points). However, he was not re-signed when the season ended.
Signing Seven: Galchenyuk Signs PTO with Colorado
After struggling to find an NHL contract for the 2022-23 season, Galchenyuk finally signed a PTO with the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 20, 2022. However, he was released from the offer just a week later on Sept. 28, 2022.
Signing Eight: Galchenyuk Signs with the AHL Colorado Eagles
On Nov. 10, 2022, the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles signed Galchenyuk to a PTO. That’s where he’s playing currently. On the season with the Eagles, he’s scored 11 goals and added 14 assists (for 25 points) in 27 games. His salary pays him $250,000 USD to play in Loveland, Colorado, just 50 miles north of Denver.
Whether he stays there or not we’ll have to see. However, there are probably worse things than being paid $250,000 USD to play a game many North American kids would love to play professionally.
The Hockey World is Filled with Pilgrims Who Play Globally
What drew me to Galchenyuk’s travels was that, because I cover the Maple Leafs, I had hoped he might stay in Toronto. However, he didn’t. Instead, he joins a group of talented pilgrims – hockey players who play globally outside the NHL. I am intrigued by their stories.
Having been fortunate enough to have traveled and worked in many countries as a professor and teacher, I’ve met a number of athletes who’ve built a life outside of the country of their birth. Galchenyuk is only one of many. As I noted at the start of this post, tens of thousands of professional hockey players are playing globally.
Galchenyuk is a forward who’s played in the NHL for several teams. These include in Montreal, Toronto, Arizona, Ottawa, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. He’s now in Colorado playing in the Avalanche organization.
At 29 years of age, Galchenyuk is still a good player who’s scoring almost a point a game in the AHL. During his NHL career, he’s scored 146 goals and 208 assists in 647 games.
Galchenyuk is a talented hockey player living a life many young Canadians are probably dreaming about. In that, he’s far from a failure. He’s just one who no longer plays – at least for now – in the NHL.