New York Islanders Trade Rumors: Alex Galchenyuk

Even in October, trade rumors never cease and in the past few weeks, the New York Islanders have found themselves at the heart of much speculation, this time surrounding Montreal Canadians forward, Alex Galchenyuk.

New York Islanders fans were a buzz on Twitter late last week as Arthur Staple tweeted that Montreal Canadians general manager, Marc Bergevin, was once again scouting the team. Which sparked conversation about the Islanders possibly acquiring forward Alex Galchenyuk.

While fans were mainly concerned with Colorado Avalanche center, Matt Duchene, over the past off-season, Galchenyuk has also been a name that circulates around rumor accounts. Tremendously undervalued on the Canadians as a fourth liner, the young center has never been a favorite of his GM or coach.

Level Above

With 44 points in 61 games last season and hitting his current career high in goals of 30 at only 21-years-old, Galchenyuk consistently produces at a level above how his organization treats him. Making it well known across the league that he may do better elsewhere. It also makes him a fine candidate for the New York Islanders.

Although the Islanders seem to have found their second line center in Mathew Barzal, scoring his first career goal against the New York Rangers, goal-scoring depth is never something to devalue. Alex Galchenyuk could also act as an addition to the team’s second power-play unit, which is in desperate need of help.

Bergevin’s visits not only started the conversation across Isles twitter but also stoked the fire of an anxious Canadians fan base. Seeing one of their slowest starts in recent history, fans are grasping for any sort of good news, leading to a few not so hot takes.

This tweet is indicative of either Canadians’ fans desperation or how little hockey media pays attention to the Islanders. A “trade John Tavares” take two weeks into the season would be bad enough without the implication that Brock Nelson was a worthy candidate to replace him.

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What Does Bergevin Want?

So what could Bergevin actually be looking for? It seems unrealistic that he would come to see Beauvillier or Pulock, as they have been healthy scratches for almost every game he was scouting. However, it would make sense that he would be looking for young talent, leaving us with Mat Barzal and Joshua Ho-Sang, neither of which seems worth Alex Galchenyuk, even in a package of some kind.

Some even speculated that the Canadians GM was simply watching to scout John Tavares, not for a trade but because of the possibility that he could be a free agent at the end of this season. As all Islanders fans are painfully aware. However, as Arthur Staple pointed out, it seems ridiculous that anyone would need to scout a player like John Tavares.

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While nothing at all could come of Marc Bergevin’s recent visits, fans of both teams are searching for their own missing links and would be amiss not to wonder. It’s important to take trade rumors with a grain of salt as nothing may could of them (see: fans disappointed at a lack of Matt Duchene in their lineup) but we may want to start considering the usefulness of Alex Galchenyuk as a New York Islander.