The Colorado Avalanche have made some trades in the past that have worked out tremendously. They’ve also made some that have not worked out, both in which can be said for both teams involved. One of the latter is what I’m going to reference today.
Back in 2023, the Avalanche were in need of adding a forward. They looked around and found a trade partner in the Nashville Predators. To Nashville went centre Alex Galchenyuk. To Colorado came Ryan Johansen.
Johansen was the fourth-overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. After spending four years (and change) with the Blue Jackets, he then went to the Nashville Predators, where he spent eight seasons before finally heading to the Avalanche in 2023.
By that time, Johansen was a well-known forward who had been around the block. He had played in 842 games, recorded 189 goals and 366 assists before ending up with the Avalanche, where he played in 63 games, recording 13 goals and 10 assists. For the most part, he hung around the 50 percent mark in terms of faceoffs throughout his entire career. His career percentage on faceoffs is 53.4 percent (6,595 out of 7,545).
When Colorado acquired him, I thought that Johansen was going to be a great addition. Unfortunately, something just seemed off with him during his time with the Avs. He looked like a terrible fit for the team—a team that is now built with many opportunity-creators and defensemen who chip in consistently, too.
The unfortunate situation with Alexander Galchenyuk
To me, it is always very exciting to see what young prospects/players turn into. Some turn into guys who have bright futures in the NHL. Others just straight up don’t work out. That’s just the way it goes in professional sports. Sometimes, they don’t have what it takes. Other times, their talents are there, but as young people, they make foolish mistakes.
The Avalanche traded Galchenyuk to the Predators on June 24, 2023, and on July 9 of the same year, he was arrested for a misdemeanour threatening charge, while several other charges ended up getting dropped.
Bodycam video of his arrest was released and let me tell you, watching something like that is pretty scary. As always, I encourage people to make the best decisions possible for them and others. Otherwise, bad things happen. Galchenyuk literally threatened a police officer’s family. Since the arrest, he has not played in the NHL.
He played in just 11 games for the Avalanche, recording no goals or assists, and a minus-8. He was on the ice for an average of 7:06 per game in those 11 games.
His career in the NHL was over before he even played for the Predators.
At the end of the day, neither side benefited from the trade. You could say that Colorado won that trade given the games played between the two, but I won’t be doing that because I believed that Johansen would play for the Avalanche for years to come.