The Arizona Coyotes terminated Alex Galchenyuk's contract after the former third overall pick was reportedly arrested on multiple charges.
Update (July 14): The Arizona Coyotes announced Friday they have terminated the contract of Alex Galchenyuk. They have also released a statement following the report that Galchenyuk was arrested.
“We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior,” the Coyotes said in a statement. “Once the Club was made aware of the allegations, we immediately began the process of terminating his standard player’s sontract through the proper channels in conjunction with the National Hockey League.”
The original story follows.
The Arizona Coyotes placed forward Alex Galchenyuk on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract on Thursday, just 12 days after signing him to a one-year, two-way NHL deal.
According to The Athletic's Katie Strang, Galchenyuk was arrested by the Scottsdale Police Department on June 9 for private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, and threatening or intimidating. The Scottsdale PD further said Galchenyuk's hit-and-run featured "only property damage and no injuries."
As Strang reports, Galchenyuk was booked into jail on Sunday then arraigned and released the next day on his own recognizance. Galchenyuk's pre-trial conference has been set for Aug. 11.
The charges have not been proven in court.
The Coyotes announced at noon ET that Galchenyuk was placed on waivers to terminate his deal but said they will have no further comment at this time. ESPN and Sportsnet later reported the Coyotes had discovered an "off-ice situation" affecting Galchenyuk that the team didn't know previously.
PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan and Sportsnet also reported the NHLPA is reviewing the matter.
Galchenyuk spent 11 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, going pointless while registering four penalty minutes. Playing for the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, Galchenyuk fared much better, finishing with 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points in 42 games.
This was set to be his third stint with the Coyotes after spending the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons with the organization.
Since being drafted third overall by the Montreal Canadiens, the Madison, Wis., native has 354 points in 654 NHL games split between the Habs, Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Avalanche.