Avalanche Recall Alex Galchenyuk

The Colorado Avalanche announced they have called up Alex Galchenyuk from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Galchenyuk was signed by the Avalanche last offseason and has played most of this season in the minor leagues.

The 29-year-old forward is having a successful season in the AHL, scoring 15 goals and 33 points in 33 games for the Eagles. He was called up earlier this season to play four games with the Avalanche but failed to register a point.

Galchenyuk is a skilled forward who was the third overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played his first six seasons with the Canadiens, but has bounced around the league since then. In the past five years, he has played for the Arizona Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Coyotes again and now the Avalanche.

This season was his first lengthy stint in the AHL, and he produced at a point-per-game pace. Perhaps he has gained some confidence and can rediscover a bit of the offensive tough that saw him score 30 goals and 56 points in 2015-16.

The Avalanche needed to call someone up with Artturi Lehkonen ruled out with a broken finger. Since the team no longer had 12 healthy forwards, the Galchenyuk recall is considered to be on an emergency basis so it does not affect the limit of four recalls the Avalanche are allowed to make after the trade deadline.