Senators Coach Explains Why Alex Galchenyuk Was Traded

The Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes completed a trade over this past weekend which saw the Sens re-acquire Ryan Dzingel and the 'Canes receive grinder Cedric Paquette and journeyman Alex Galchenyuk.

While the deal was two-fold as the Hurricanes wanted some playoff winning experience and a role player in Paquette and the Senators wanted Dzingel back in their lineup for speed, the forgotten piece here was Galchenyuk. Seems like that's been a theme lately as even after the Sens signed him, they didn't know what to do with him.

Senators head coach DJ Smith had this to say about why it didn't work out for the former 3rd overall pick who is now a part of his 6th time in three seasons:

It's hard with this COVID lineup. You have so many bodies and guys don't get in to play. Two guys go out that hopefully get an opportunity somewhere else, and Ryan Dzingel, who the fans know, will give us some much-needed speed and be able to push some guys for minutes, and make us a bit of a faster club. ...

"It's a tough situation for [Galchenyuk] because we have young guys in front of him that I feel that I have to develop and give opportunities to. And obviously we want young guys to work for everything they get, but in saying that, a guy like [Tim] Stutzle and Brady [Tkachuk] on the left side, and then you've got Nick Paul who's been arguably one of our best players wire to wire, those are three guys who were ahead of him on the left side.

It's tough to see Galchenyuk become the NHL's newest suitcase. Let's hope he can work his way into the lineup in Carolina and make a difference. It wasn't that long ago he was good for 50 points a season.

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