Arizona Coyotes Could Be Early Players On Trade Market
The regular season is about to begin and with it comes the regular season trade market, which can be both a continuation of long-term team building or more reactionary measures to combat injuries or a slow start. One team that seems likely to be included in early trade conversations are the Arizona Coyotes. The ‘Yotes have the pieces, the motivation, and most importantly, the roster crunch that should make them a prime candidate to acquire one of the first major pieces to hit the trade block.
Entering the 2018-19 season, Arizona is the only NHL team that is at the league’s 50-contract limit. A handful of other teams sit at 48 or 49 players signed, but the Coyotes are the only club right up against it. In fact, the Coyotes actually have 52 players under contract, according to CapFriendly. The contracts of recent first-round picks Barrett Hayton and Pierre-Olivier Joseph won’t count against the limit, once both are returned to their respective junior teams, but as of now Hayton remains on the roster. Presumably, Hayton must be returned to juniors. The fact that the Coyotes cannot even make such a simple roster decision exemplifies the inflexibility that the team struggles with. Solving this dilemma ahead of NHL Trade Deadline or college free agent rush later in the season will be a task on the forefront for GM John Chayka and company.
[RELATED: ARIZONA COYOTES ROSTER]
Fortunately, Arizona is set up well to make an “all-for-one”-type deal. The Coyotes have one of the youngest rosters in the league, specifically up front, where the depth of talent in 25-and-under forwards runs well into the minor league ranks. Regardless of who makes the Opening Night roster for Arizona, the team will have two or three well-regarded forward prospects playing for their AHL team in Tuscon seemingly for much of the year. It’s a simple fact of life that not every promising player can see substantial NHL minutes, but can the Coyotes really afford to be wasting talent?
Arizona has not qualified for the playoffs since they went by the name “Phoenix”. The team last saw postseason action in 2011-12, the third-longest drought in the league. The Coyotes have only made the playoffs three times total in the post-lockout salary cap era. Fans are clamoring for a change in fortunes and while the ‘Yotes have been considered an up-and-coming team for years now, the rebuild simply hasn’t panned out. The administration has shown more of a willingness to make changes recently, investing in contender-caliber tandem of Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper, trading for veterans like Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers, and Derek Stepan and even signing sought-after hired gun Michael Grabner. The Coyotes are starting to build a roster that structurally looks more like a contender than the past few seasons, while maintaining a low salary cap hit. However, they need to get out from under this roster limit issue and an easy way of doing so would be to package several of their minor league forwards for a veteran name on the rumor mill.
Some may still want to take the slow, cautious approach and see the rebuild through, but after seven years without a playoff game and a Chayka administration that has seen too few top prospects pan out, the pressure is on in the desert. A slow start, even if it caused by an Alex Galchenyuk injury absence or adjusting to game speed for players like Jakob Chychrun, Christian Dvorak, and several new faces, could be enough to pull the trigger on such a deal. Considering all the variables in favor of making a trade, it would be no surprise to see the Coyotes active on the trade market early this season.
Jakob Chychrun Cleared To Skate
The Arizona Coyotes are hoping to make a run for the playoffs this season after an inspiring second half and several changes this summer. The team brought in Vinnie Hinostroza, Jordan Oesterle, Alex Galchenyuk and Michael Grabner, while retaining almost all of their key players—save for Max Domi, who was sent to Montreal. In order to really push for the postseason though they’ll need to stay healthy all season, and there was some more good news on that front today. Jakob Chychrun, who underwent his second knee surgery in a year back in April, has been cleared to skate according GM John Chayka who relayed the information to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports. Chychrun is just 17 weeks out from the procedure, and is expected to be a full participant in training camp.
That’s huge news for the Coyotes but also is extremely important for Chychrun, who is heading into the final season of his entry-level contract without an injury-free season under his belt. The 20-year old defenseman has played just 68 and 50 games in his first two seasons, limited by two major knee injuries already. While he’s been impressive in his ability to recover from surgery, he needs to prove that he can stay on the ice for an entire season before the team commits to him going forward. He’s shown an ability to log top-four minutes in the NHL even as a teenager, and now must start to fulfill his extremely high potential and dominate the league.
Chychrun dropped to 16th overall during the 2016 draft, but many felt that was due to overexposure and perhaps some disinterest during his final year of junior hockey. He had long been projected as a potential top pick given his obvious talent at both ends of the rink, but saw Olli Juolevi, Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Bean and Charlie McAvoy all go off the board ahead of him on draft day. He’s played more NHL games than any of them—in fact Juolevi and Bean are still waiting to make their debuts—but hasn’t quite shown his full potential in Arizona. With Oliver Ekman-Larsson signed to a huge extension, Chychrun could provide the Coyotes with a rock solid second option on the left side for many years to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Pacific Notes: Hughes, Virtanen, Chychrun
While it was expected that the Canucks would make a quick decision on whether or not to turn top draft pick Quinn Hughes pro next season, it appears that the team hasn’t decided whether that’s the best move for him just yet. In an interview with TSN 1040 (audio link), GM Jim Benning stated that he remains in conversations with Hughes’ family advisor in an effort to determine what’s best for his long-term development. He also acknowledged the current logjam on their back end but indicated that if he was to attend training camp and play well enough to earn a roster spot that they would make a move to make room for him. For him to attend camp, he’d have to be signed to an entry-level deal which would put an end to his NCAA eligibility although he would be able to play in the AHL.
More from the Pacific:
- The Canucks have only one restricted free agent remaining in winger Jake Virtanen. From the same interview, Benning mentioned that the team remains in discussions with his agent Kevin Epp and classifies the talks as “going good”. Given Virtanen’s inconsistency over the past couple of seasons, it’s likely that Vancouver will be pushing for him to sign a short-term contract. The 21-year-old had ten goals and ten assists in 75 games last season. He had a qualifying offer of roughly $875K but that expired back on July 15th.
- Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun is expected to resume skating next week as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery notes Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan. The team remains hopeful that he’ll be ready for training camp and if he does so and plays well early on next season, Morgan believes the team may look to get an early extension done rather than wait for him to his restricted free agency next summer.
Snapshots: Chychrun, Lambert, Legace
The Arizona Coyotes were shocked by how quickly Jakob Chychrun recovered year, as the then-19 year old defenseman made his return to the lineup just three months after undergoing knee surgery in August. This time they won’t be so surprised. Chychrun, who suffered another brutal knee injury at the very end of the season, is expected to be ready for training camp in September with the Coyotes according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports. His remarkable ability to rehab doesn’t faze GM John Chayka at this point, who said that Chychrun is “just one of those guys who just recovers on his own schedule.”
That’s big news for the Coyotes, who are looking to ride a late-season surge last season all the way to the playoffs in 2018-19. After acquiring several players including Derek Stepan, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Antti Raanta last summer, Chayka was busy again in bringing in Alex Galchenyuk, Michael Grabner and Marcus Kruger to round out the lineup. All eyes though will be on the young core of Chychrun, Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome, who are the key to getting the Coyotes back to long-term respectability.
- The New York Islanders have shocked no one by hiring Lane Lambert as an assistant coach, reuniting him with Barry Trotz behind the bench. Lambert has worked alongside Trotz for the last seven seasons, prior to which he worked as the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals implementing the same system Trotz was using while with the Nashville Predators. The two are almost inseparable at this point, and now face the task of returning the Islanders to success in 2018-19.
- As many have expected, the Columbus Blue Jackets have named former NHL goaltender Manny Legace as their new goaltending coach, promoting him from a similar position with their minor league affiliates. Legace, known as an incredibly consistent backup goalie during his playing career, is now an extremely well-regarded coach that was destined for the NHL ranks. He’ll get to work with two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky in his first season in Columbus, but will likely focus more on preparing Joonas Korpisalo for the starting role should the team not be able to reach a contract extension with the former. Bobrovsky is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and could command a deal like Carey Price‘s eight-year $84MM extension.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson Officially Signs Eight-Year Extension
Though it had been confirmed for some time, the Arizona Coyotes couldn’t officially sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson to an extension until today. Now that they can, they quickly announced the eight-year extension for their star defenseman. The team did not release the financial details, but several reports have it totaling $66MM. The salary will be paid as follows:
- 2019-20: $8MM
- 2020-21: $8MM
- 2021-22: $10.5MM
- 2022-23: $10.5MM
- 2023-24: $10.5MM
- 2024-25: $8MM
- 2025-26: $5.25MM
- 2026-27: $5.25MM
After spending a full season listening to trade rumors about Ekman-Larsson as the team wasn’t sure it could sign their superstar defenseman, Arizona managed to lock him up. Part of the reason was the team’s second-half success as the team started winning in the second-half. That sign the team is heading in the right direction was a key reason Ekman-Larsson wanted to return. That doesn’t include all the changes that general manager John Chayka has made, ranging from bringing in veterans like Derek Stepan, Alex Galchenyuk, Michael Grabner and Antti Raanta, not to mention the influx of youth to the team like Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, Brendan Perlini. and 2018 first-rounder Barrett Hayton.
The team also brought in veteran countryman Niklas Hjalmarsson in a offseason trade last year, who has mentored the young 26-year-old. Now even Hjalmarsson has re-signed with Arizona for another two years, keeping the two together even longer.
Arizona’s Moves Continue To Improve Coyotes Team
With the recent acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk, the Arizona Coyotes are well on their way to taking another step towards building a winning team in the desert. If you add the players Arizona acquired last year at this time, a full year under the belt of coach Rick Tocchet and the continued development of their young players, the team seems to be heading in the right direction and the team is starting to get excited.
Throw in franchise defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson as someone who sees the changes. Many thought Ekman-Larsson might spurn the struggling franchise, yet he agreed to sign an eight-year, $66MM extension last week. Just last year, the team went out and traded their first-round pick (seventh overall) to the New York Rangers and picked up two key pieces to their team in center Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta. Stepan has continued his solid play, while Raanta put up a solid second half of the season after an injury-plagued first half, putting up a 2.24 GAA and a .930 save percentage in 47 games. He has also been rewarded with a three-year, $12.75MM extension, which kicks in this year. Chayka also went out and traded for veteran defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jason Demers in separate deals last year.
While many people felt that after a flurry of moves a year ago, the Coyotes would make a huge jump in the standings, that didn’t happen, especially after starting the season with an 11-game losing streak. However, their second half showed more of that improvement as the team had a stretch towards the end of the season in which it went 17-8-3.
Regardless, there seems to be a lot going right for the Coyotes right now, according to NBC Sports’ James O’Brien. The scribe points out some key facts, including the initial reaction to the Galchenyuk deal has been positive. While it’s too early to tell, Galchenyuk’s chances of becoming a solid player is quite a bit higher than Max Domi, who the Coyotes sent back to Montreal. Assuming that Galchenyuk can make the conversion to center, that would relieve some stress from the team’s lack of depth at that position. Now if the team wants to move Dylan Strome or Christian Dvorak to the wing position, there won’t be extra pressure to keep him at center due to their lack of depth.
One other key factor is the team still has an enormous amount of young players who could be ready to take that next step. Clayton Keller scored 23 goals in his rookie year and could improve on that exponentially. Other players like Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, Strome, Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer could also take that next step. And don’t forget the sixth pick in next week’s draft.
The team also still has plenty of cap space available with more than $18MM in space waiting for them to use. They could dip into the free agency market or continuing to add players through trade. However, with the way Chayka is constantly tweaking this team, there are likely more changes to come.
Coyotes And Sharks Strike Minor Trade
Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka is feeling lucky today. The Coyotes have announced their second trade of the evening, acquiring forward Adam Helewka from the division rival San Jose Sharks. In return, the Sharks land defenseman Kyle Wood from the ‘Yotes. Arizona announced the deal with a team release.
While this is a minor trade, it is not inconsequential. Helewka, 22, was a fourth-round pick of the Sharks in 2015. Like Hudson Fasching, who the Coyotes acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the day, Helewka’s offensive totals as a younger player exceed what he has been able to produce so far as a pro. However, he too seems to be trending in the right direction with an AHL career-high 38 points this year and a strong albeit brief playoff showing. In one day, Chayka has added a lot of offensive upside to the Tuscon Roadrunners and may find that both of his acquisitions could be good depth pieces up front for the Coyotes.
As for the Sharks, they add impressive potential of their own in Wood. The 22-year-old blue liner was one of the top scoring defensemen and an All-Star in the AHL in 2016-17 with 43 points in 68 games. He was pegged as one of the favorites to fill the roster spot of Jakob Chychrun early this season while he was sidelined, but Wood too ran into injury issues which lost him an NHL chance and also cost him some games and production in the AHL. However, at full health he is a dangerous minor league asset. Although the Sharks are set for their seven starting defensemen going into next season, Wood is yet another strong young option for the San Jose Barracuda and it would be no surprise see him make his NHL debut next year. Wood is an impending restricted free agent though, and the Sharks GM Doug Wilson will first have to sign the young rearguard to a new deal.
Injury Notes: Girgensons, Scherbak, Condon, Chychrun
Zemgus Girgensons‘ season is over, as the Buffalo Sabres announced today that he underwent facial surgery. No timeline has been released for his recovery, but one could assume he’ll be ready for next season. Girgensons will finish the season with 15 points in 71 games.
This has been another disappointing season for Girgensons, who was selected 14th-overall in 2012 as a potential power center capable of scoring and shutting down the opposition’s best. Unfortunately, the scoring has never come around and Girgensons has been limited to fewer than 20 points in the last three consecutive seasons. The 24-year old has one more season on his current contract, but could be moved if the Sabres look for drastic changes to their lineup this summer.
- Nikita Scherbak has suffered a concussion, though it’s not clear exactly when it happened. The Montreal Canadiens announced his injury this morning, telling reporters that he reported symptoms after his last game. That likely means he’s out for the rest of the season, and will have to wait until 2018-19 to make an impact for the club. The 22-year old has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but will end with just six points in 26 games.
- Speaking of concussions, the Ottawa Senators confirmed today that is injury that Mike Condon suffered in practice yesterday, meaning he won’t suit up again this season. Instead, Craig Anderson will play tonight in a battle for the bottom of the league. The Sabres could climb within one point of the Senators with a win, and Anderson certainly could cause just that. The 36-year old goaltender hasn’t had the season many expected, recording an .898 save percentage through 56 games.
- After suffering a brutal injury last night, Jakob Chychrun is likely done for the season. The Arizona Coyotes have just a pair of games remaining, and though head coach Rick Tocchet couldn’t give an update on the young defenseman he is “hoping for the best.” Chychrun was injured on a collision just behind his net last night, when Michael Frolik tripped him and sent his legs into the boards. The 19-year old defenseman already dealt with a knee injury last year that required surgery, but was able to return quickly from it and provide a stabilizing presence to the Coyotes blue line.
Coyotes-Sabres: Lottery Odds On The Line
Normally, this time of year brings match-ups with major playoff implications as teams jockey for position atop conferences and divisions or fight for the final wild card spots. Instead, all eyes will be on the KeyBank Center tonight as the puck is about to drop on a battle of the league’s two worst teams, the 31st-place Buffalo Sabres hosting the 29th-place Arizona Coyotes. Both teams will have just nine games remaining after tonight’s result and the loser (winner?) may very well end up with the worst record in the league and the best lottery odds for the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and the right to draft wunderkind defender Rasmus Dahlin.
It’s a strange time for two of the league’s least-successful to go head-to-head, as the argument is that the worse team tonight is actually the beneficiary, but both teams are playing some of their best hockey of late. The Coyotes, dead in the water at the midway point and on pace for a measly 46 points this season, have had a resurgence in the second half. The team is 12-5-2 since February 8th, with wins over divisional foes in playoff spots in the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. They have already far surpassed 46 points, hitting 59 on the year with their sixth win in their last ten games on Monday night. Not only that, but Arizona has actually climbed out of the basement of the league, something most did not expect. Filling that bottom-feeder role now are the Sabres, but Buffalo too has been hot, with six wins in their last 11 games. It’s the first time all season that Buffalo has had less losses than not in a ten-game span, and that’s included wins over three of the league’s best teams – the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Neither team looks ready to lose tonight, but one has to and it could be the blow that knocks them out of their winning ways. Buffalo faces a tough stretch to close out the year, with road games in Tampa, Florida, Nashville, New York and twice in Toronto. The rest of their contests are home against division rivals. Tonight could be the last time the Sabres are favored by anyone to win in 2017-18. Meanwhile, Arizona is about to be run the gauntlet. Tonight’s game in Buffalo begins a road trip that goes through Carolina, Florida, Tampa, Vegas, and L.A. before they return home to face the playoff-hungry Blues and Ducks in two of their final four games. The one bright spot left on the Coyotes schedule is a trip to Vancouver on April 5th. With neither team facing a very winnable schedule, tonight’s result really could determine who ends up with the best lottery odds when the season ends.
Speaking of the Canucks, they’re not to be forgotten in this equation either. Vancouver has lost seven straight and now sit in 30th, with as many points as Arizona but with one fewer game left to play. However, the Canucks face Chicago tomorrow night and Edmonton twice, as well as the Coyotes, in this final stretch and seem more likely to pick up some extra points as the season winds down.
Yet, like Buffalo and Arizona, Vancouver likely won’t mind finishing last either. The prize, Dahlin, would be a major addition to any team, but especially to any of these three struggling franchises. Buffalo, currently in the best position to win the lottery, is sorely lacking in high-end defensive prospects outside of players already on the roster like Rasmus Ristolainen and Brendan Guhle. Dahlin would be an upgrade not just to any of their current prospect blue liners, but quite possibly their veterans as well. Vancouver continues to wait for Olli Juolevi to be NHL-ready and have a long-term project player in Jack Rathbone, but Dahlin would look awfully nice alongside Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher next season and beyond. Finally, there’s Arizona, where many have projected Dahlin to land all season. It could be the perfect spot, as fellow countryman and talented defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson could mentor Dahlin just long enough before the Coyotes to trade him before he hits free agency in 2019. Like Buffalo, Arizona lacks difference-makers on the back end in the pipeline and could desperately use Dahlin. He could be a fit for a long time with Jakob Chychrun.
Who will end up with Dahlin? It may not be Buffalo or Arizona. It could be Vancouver, or it could be any of the other 12 teams who miss the playoffs, but win the lottery. However, the top odds and the race for the worst record in the league weigh heavily on tonight’s result. Stay tuned.
Trade Candidates: Jason Demers
With the trade deadline approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 26th.
With another dismal season in the desert, the Arizona Coyotes will once again attempt to unload their veteran players with the hopes of picking up some draft picks and opening roster spots so the team can promote some of their young talent in the minors. While the team may want to hold onto some of their offseason trade acquisitions a bit longer like Derek Stepan or Niklas Hjalmarsson, there are others such as defenseman Jason Demers, who the team will likely shop in hopes of finding a taker.
Contract
One reason Arizona was able to get Demers for such a cheap price (for Jamie McGinn) was that the Coyotes were willing to eat his contract. The 29-year-old defenseman still has three years remaining on the five-year, $22.5MM ($4.45MM AAV) deal he signed in 2016 with the Florida Panthers. However, the Panthers will retain $563K for each of the next four years, which brings his salary down to just under $4MM per year.
2017-18
While the Coyotes had high hopes that with the addition of Demers and Hjalmarsson to go with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski and second-year defenseman Jakob Chychrun, the team’s defense and new goaltender Antti Raanta might stabilize their defense. That hasn’t happened, although Demers has played well with the Coyotes and been a consistent defensive presence all season. While his offensive numbers have been modest at best (three goals this year compared to nine last year), he has played well defensively and is averaging a solid 21:06 of ice time.
Season Stats
50 GP, 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points, -11 rating, 29 PIM, 21:46 ATOI, 51.1 CF%
Potential Suitors
While Demers is no rental player, the team has to hope a team is willing to take on three more years of his contract for a trade to work. Even if they were willing to retain some of his salary, finding a taker might be challenging. While the Toronto Maple Leafs have shown interest in Demers in previous years and might be looking for a defenseman, the likelihood they would be willing to take on his contract for three more years when their cap situation ready to explode at that time suggests they aren’t a great match. Perhaps a team with ample cap space such as the San Jose Sharks, the Colorado Avalanche or even the Winnipeg Jets might be willing to take on that contract. The New York Islanders also could use some defense, but would likely have to send some salary back to make a deal work.
Likelihood of a Trade
Arizona is likely more than willing, but again, it all comes down to whether any team wants to take on the three years remaining on his salary and how much Arizona might be willing to retain. Demers isn’t that high priced, but the defenseman is hardly that great player that will change a team’s playoff fortunes around. Yet, he is a solid, respectable defenseman who might make a solid pickup to a team’s defensive rotation.