Arizona Coyotes place Alex Galchenyuk on waiver for contract termination

The Arizona Coyotes have placed Alex Galchenyuk on an unconditional waiver for termination of contract. The move is a shocking development as the ink has barely dried on the contract he signed with the team less than two weeks ago.

In what would have been his third stint with the Coyotes in a tumultuous career so far, he signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the team on July 1. He previously played the 2018-19 season for Arizona after being traded there in exchange for Max Domi. He had a decently successful season, with 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games, leading the low-scoring Coyotes in goals.

According to Greg Wyshynski of ESPNthe Coyotes became aware of an « off-ice situation » that was previously unknown about Galchenyuk.

There’s no point in speculating what that off-ice situation might be, but it was obviously serious enough to nullify a very recently signed contract. In his second stint with the Coyotes in the 2021-22 season, Galchenyuk scored six goals and had 21 points. At this point in his career, he was playing the final six minutes for almost every team he played for.

Galchenyuk started the 2022-23 season playing for the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. He ended up scoring 16 goals and 42 points in 42 games, showing he still has plenty of talent to offer. However, it didn’t go so well when he played 11 games with the Avalanche, scoring zero points and posting -8 odds.

Once Galchenyuk presumably clears the waivers, he will once again be an unrestricted free agent free to sign anywhere in the league. However, he might not sign for a while due to the nature of his off-ice situation, teams might not want to bet on that. If he signs with an NHL team this year, there’s a good chance he’ll join the eighth team of his 12-year career.