Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron, headline a busy day on waivers.

The waiver wire in the 2020 - 2021 National Hockey League season has been something to behold. We have seen some big names hitting the waiver wire this season as teams are forced into tough decisions as they juggle the realities of a flat salary cap and the addition of a taxi squad, and on Sunday the waiver wire once again featured a number of notable names. 

First on the list has got to be Carolina Hurricanes forward Alex Galchenyuk, who was acquired by the Hurricanes just yesterday as part of a 3 player trade, who has been waived before ever playing a single game for them. Galchenyuk, a former 3rd overall pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, has bounced around to 4 different teams now in just the last 2 seasons and there's a real chance he might soon be adding a 5th.

Although his diminished skills are what have caused him to bounced around so much, he does come it at a reasonable cap hit of $1.05 million and is only under contract for this current season. It's not outside the realm of possibility that a team could consider picking him up, perhaps even the Ottawa Senators who just traded him to Carolina.

Another interesting name on waivers today is that of Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron. The 31 year old veteran has been critical of his own play this season following a healthy scratch from head coach Claude Julien, and it would seem now that the Canadiens are looking to send him to the taxi squad. This would also appear to indicate that veteran forward Corey Perry has shown the Canadiens enough to earn a regular spot on their roster, as I suspect that he would have been the other option to send to the taxi squad today.

Unlike Galchenyuk however Byron will not come cheap, and for this reason I suspect he will go unclaimed. The 31 year old is currently in just the 2nd year of his 4 year deal, a deal that carries an average annual value of $3.4 million.

Other names on waivers today were Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny Dekeyser, who has been scratched repeatedly by the Wings this season, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Gabriel Carlsson and Par Lindholm who has reportedly left the Bruins and signed a contract with an organization in Sweden.