West Notes: Coyotes, Oilers, Barbashev

It has been a long rebuilding process for the Coyotes as they’ve stripped their team down while adding many prospects and draft picks.  Speaking with Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Bill Armstrong indicated that they’re nearing the halfway point of their rebuild.  Arizona has 47 draft picks over the next four drafts, 17 of which are in the first two rounds so there is definitely going to be a significant influx of young talent into the organization in the coming years.  However, it appears at least a couple more years of being around the basement of the conference are on the horizon as it will take some time for their young talent to develop.

More from the West:

• The Oilers made a legitimate pitch to acquire winger Timo Meier before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts While it would be hard to see how Meier and his $10MM qualifying offer would fit into Edmonton’s salary structure, Friedman suggests their intention was simply to figure out the cap implications over the summer.  Had it happened, there’s a strong possibility that Meier would have been back on the market this summer with Edmonton effectively treating him as a rental player.  Meier, of course, ultimately went to New Jersey and has a goal in three games so far with his new team.
• While his acquisition largely flew under the radar with more prominent names being moved, forward Ivan Barbashev might wind up being the best deadline acquisition, posits SinBinVegas’ Jason Pothier. The Golden Knights parted with 2021 first-round pick Zach Dean to pick up the 27-year-old pending UFA and Barbashev has fit in quite well, notching five points in six games with his new team.  More importantly, he has shown some early chemistry on the top line in the place of injured captain Mark Stone and if he’s able to hold down that spot on the depth chart, he should certainly be at least one of the most impactful pickups from the trade deadline activity.