New Jersey Devils: 5 Left Wings To Target In Free Agency

Alex Galchenyuk

Alex Galchenyuk might be playing center right now, but the Devils would be looking at him as a left wing. Galchenyuk’s season has not been ideal, and just when he started to get going the league went on pause. In fact, in his last game before the pause, he put the Wild up by one in the third period, and also had an assist on a Mats Zuccarello goal in the first period.

You have to feel bad for Galchenyuk. He’s been traded three times in the last two seasons. He went from Montreal to Arizona in the Max Domi trade. Then, he was traded from Arizona to Pittsburgh in the Phil Kessel trade. Finally, he was sent to Minnesota as part of the Jason Zucker trade. He’s been in three major trades, and most of the time he ends up as the “other” piece.

For the Devils, Galchenyuk could be someone who plays on any line. He’s been moved around so much, he would probably accept a smaller AAV for some term. After being on four teams in basically two years, he is going to want some consistency.

So, why should the Devils consider this? Well, we’ve seen players have terrible fits on teams and bounce back as soon as they were put in a better situation. The Penguins tried to put Galchenyuk right into Phil Kessel’s role, but he’s a very special player. Putting a top-line player in a third-line role isn’t always going to work out.

The Devils have the right roles for Galchenyuk, and a third-line role on this team plays differently than it does for the Penguins. He’d have top power play time, and he could fill a scoring role the Devils sorely need. This season went quite poorly, but he’s just 26 years old. The Devils could get a 26-year-old winger with eight years of experience. Some may be looking at his declining numbers, but give him a chance to succeed and he could be the right player in this right situation.