The Toronto Maple Leafs announced this evening that they have acquired forward Alex Galchenyuk from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward prospect Egor Korshkov and AHL defender David Warsofsky.

Galchenyuk, 27, started the year with the Ottawa Senators putting up one goal in eight games.  He was traded to Carolina two days ago. He was placed on waivers yesterday and cleared, meaning the Leafs can assign him to the taxi squad or the AHL without him clearing again if they are so inclined.

Once a highly-touted prospect, Galchenyuk was selected third overall in the 2012 entry draft and had some notable success with the Montreal Canadiens, peaking with a 30-goal/56-point season in 2015-16.

Despite that peak production, Alex often seemed to be on the outs in Montreal, shuffling between centre and wing before eventually being dealt to Arizona in the Max Domi trade. Galchenyuk had a respectable 41-point season in Arizona in 2017-18 before being moved again, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019, as part of the deal that brought Phil Kessel to the Coyotes.

Galchenyuk has increasingly struggled in the last couple of years, however, failing to latch on in Pittsburgh, then having a promising stretch in Minnesota cut short by the pandemic. He signed as a reclamation with the Senators, but he was gone a month into the season, and now Toronto is his fourth organization in about a year. (We won’t count Carolina given he was there for a paper weekend.)

Alex’s stat profile is not all that strong, either. Micah McCurdy’s estimates of his impact have shown him as a player who is below average on both offence and defence in recent years.

Hopefully Galchenyuk can restart his career in Toronto.

Korshkov, 24, was famously a second-round pick of the Leafs in 2016. Big and rangy, he’s held some appeal as a potential bottom sixer and scored a goal in his only NHL game to date; he’s had a productive KHL season this year but when he’ll appear in the NHL next is unclear. Nonetheless, he might have something to offer Carolina in the next couple of years.

Warsofsky, age 30, is an AHL defenceman who came to Toronto in the Kapanen trade this past summer, a good pro.

Expectations out of this deal should be very, very modest—Galchenyuk hasn’t been trending all that well in recent months—but this is an interesting pickup for Kyle Dubas and co. Welcome to Toronto, Alex!