Galchenyuk out to prove he can play center with Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Galchenyuk didn't need long to make himself at home in Arizona.

Soon after being traded by the Montreal Canadiens to the Arizona Coyotes on June 15, he bought a spacious home in suburban Paradise Valley, the current or former home of Michael Phelps, Charles Barkley, Randy Johnson, Alice Cooper and the late Muhammad Ali.
But it's not the large swimming pool, the five bedrooms or the wear-shorts-in-January lifestyle that convinced Galchenyuk he found his place to be, far from Montreal, where he spent his first six NHL seasons.
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It's because the Coyotes plan to move Galchenyuk to center, the position he believes he was meant to play, the position that best suits him and, yes, the position that makes him feel at home.
"John [Chayka, the Coyotes general manager] and I went to dinner with him, and [he said] how excited he is to be here," coach Rick Tocchet said. "He has some things he wants to prove people wrong. I remember saying to him, with John, People don't think you can play center.' He smiles and goes,We'll see.' I like that."
Galchenyuk, selected No. 3 by Montreal in the 2012 NHL Draft, began his NHL career as a center and scored 30 goals at age 22 in 2015-16. He had 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in the first 25 games the following season but injured his right knee in a collision with Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar and missed 21 games during two separate layoffs.
Galchenyuk shifted to the wing and his scoring touch never returned. His goals fell to 17 that season and to 19 in 2017-18, when he played all 82 games. The Canadiens never moved him back to center before trading him to the Coyotes for forward Max Domi.

"I know I'm going to have a chance to play center and I've been training and working hard for it all summer," Galchenyuk said this week. "I'm not going to sit here and talk about what [the Canadiens] did wrong or what I did wrong or anything like that. I had a great time in Montreal, it was definitely helpful in my career. A lot of friendships that will last a long time. But it's a fresh, new start, start from blank and that's what my focus is."
The 24-year-old gives the Coyotes two assets they badly need: even-strength scoring and power-play scoring. His 255 points are tied with Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg for the most from the 2012 draft class.
Even during what for Galchenyuk was a down season (51 points) in 2017-18, he would have ranked third among the Coyotes behind forwards Clayton Keller (65) and Derek Stepan (56). The Coyotes scored 208 goals, the second fewest in the NHL. No team that made the Stanley Cup Playoffs scored fewer than 235 goals.
"Obviously we hope Alex can bring a lot of goals and a lot of points," goaltender Antti Raanta said.
Galchenyuk's nine goals and 24 points on the power play would have led the Coyotes, who were 26th in the NHL (16.9 percent). Improving will be a primary focus during training camp, which began Friday.
"He's a goal-scorer, and we need to score more goals," Stepan said. "You've got to defend, but a big focus for our group is playing the right way and adding more goals. I think that's what [John] did this summer with [forward Michael Grabner] and Galchenyuk, these two guys are goal-scorers and we need more of that."
Tocchet seems inclined to keep Galchenyuk at center for the foreseeable future, even as Galchenyuk adjusts to a new team, a new conference, a new system that demands considerable detail work from its centers and, of course, a new home.
"You've got to be careful not to bounce people around and prevent them from getting comfortable," Tocchet said. "Some players like it and some don't."
Galchenyuk clearly wants a single position, and it's the one he's playing.
"He's a very excitable kid, [and] wants to be here," Tocchet said. "Like really giddy to be here."
Photo Credit: Norm Hall