Jakob Chychrun Remains Out Of Arizona Lineup
Though he still hasn’t been traded, it appears as though Jakob Chychrun‘s time as an Arizona Coyote is over. According to Adam Vingan of Sportsnet, head coach Andre Tourigny confirmed Chychrun will remain out of the lineup “until something happens.”
Notably, Karel Vejmelka will start tonight. Vejmelka has also been the center of trade rumors recently, but the team will not pull him out of the lineup like Chychrun.
It appeared as though there was a deal in place for Chychrun over the weekend, but nothing has happened to this point. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast today speculated that a different contract or trade situation was holding up a deal (potentially with the Los Angeles Kings). Brandt Clarke, who had his name reported as a return for Chychrun, has apparently been told by the Kings he is not involved in any deal and will not be traded.
At the very least, it appears as though the months-long speculation about Chychrun will soon come to an end. The young defenseman wanted a trade out of Arizona to play for a contender, but general manager Bill Armstrong would never rush to move him. If a team wanted Chychrun, they would have to pay a high price that Arizona set.
With 28 points in 36 games and outstanding possession numbers, Chychrun has certainly made the Coyotes’ job easier. His play coming back from injury has warranted interest, and it appears as though someone is finally willing to meet that price.
Remember that Arizona already has a huge number of high picks over the next few seasons, and should only add more at this year’s deadline. No rebuild is guaranteed to work, but the management group there has at least set itself up for future success by pulling off creative transactions to add future value. The trade of Chychrun could be the capstone to that strategy, as a 24-year-old defenseman under control for two more seasons at a reasonable cap hit is one of the most valuable assets in the league. Risking that return by playing him the next few nights doesn’t make much sense.
Arizona Coyotes Reportedly Open To Trading Karel Vejmelka
The Arizona Coyotes haven’t been a good team this year, and they’re currently sitting close to the basement of the NHL standings. That poor performance has come despite the best efforts of netminder Karel Vejmelka, though, who has greatly impressed this season.
While Vejmelka’s box score numbers don’t jump off the page, (he has a .902 save percentage, 3.38 goals-against-average, and 11-15-4 record) looking a bit deeper into how the Czech goalie has performed reveals just how well he’s played in Arizona.
MoneyPuck’s goals saved above expected metric, which tracks how well a goalie has performed relative to how an average goalie would be expected to perform, ranks Vejmelka ninth in the entire NHL. He’s nipping at the heels of some of the NHL’s best netminders such as Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy in that metric, which speaks volumes to the level he’s played at this year.
Vejmelka has frequently kept the Coyotes afloat in games despite being at a major talent disadvantage, and has stolen games that the team, on paper, had no right winning.
He’s still just 26 years old, and costs just $2.725MM against the cap for the next two seasons. While his track record is admittedly thin (he is untested in the playoffs and has just 83 NHL games on his resume) his play this year has left quite the impression.
Given all that information, recent reporting from Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek might come as a surprise. On last night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, Marek reported that the Coyotes “would part with” Vejmelka “if the deal is right.”
Since Vejmelka has been so valuable for the Coyotes this year, the fact that the team would consider dealing him seems, on paper, to be a highly questionable decision.
But the unique state of the Coyotes adds some justification to the team’s thinking. Arizona is pursuing a long-term rebuilding plan, and the organization’s main goal has been building a stockpile of young players and prospects in order to fuel sustainable contention in the long-term.
The Coyotes may believe that Vejmelka may hold more value to their long-term plan for contention as a means of deepening that stockpile of picks and prospects, rather than as the goalie in their crease. If the team can net a player they believe can be a future top-six forward or top-four defenseman in exchange for Vejmelka, it’s easy to understand that rationale.
But even if one understands why the team might choose to cash in on Vejmelka, the prospect of trading such a talented starting netminder remains a difficult sell.
The Coyotes’ season has been all about player development, with the organization selling its fanbase on the idea that even though wins will be hard to come by, fans will be able to enjoy watching the development of players who will become foundational pillars of the next contending Coyotes team.
So if the Coyotes were to trade a player who is still relatively young and is among the best talents they have, that would come as quite the blow and would fly against the message of their season. The Coyotes seemingly found a potential core piece out of nowhere, signing Vejmelka as a relatively unheralded goalie out of the Czech league only for him to turn into an NHL starter. If they traded that goalie before he even reached 100 NHL games played, it would beg the question of what the Coyotes are even trying to accomplish as a franchise.
But still, the rationale of selling high on a player who still has a relatively thin NHL resume is certainly reasonable. So it’s undoubtedly a difficult situation and one where it’s easy to hear the arguments for each side. In the end, though, this report from Marek indicates that despite the development of players such as Clayton Keller into legitimate NHL stars, the Coyotes are still very much in the dog days of their rebuilding plan.
Nick Schmaltz Out 6-8 Weeks With Upper-Body Injury
The Arizona Coyotes don’t have a lot of offensive skill in the lineup this season, and they are going to have even less for the next several weeks. Nick Schmaltz has been ruled out for the next six to eight weeks according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, after he suffered an injury in the team’s season-opening match against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Connor Timmins is also out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Schmaltz, 26, quietly had a very good season in Arizona last year, scoring 59 points in 63 games to finish second in team scoring behind Clayton Keller. That was a career-high on both accounts for the playmaking forward, who has been moved out of the center role and onto right wing. He managed to play just 2:26 before exiting, and now faces a long recovery timeline that will steal a good chunk of his season.
While the team isn’t trying to compete this season, it’s still not a great place to be in for either the Coyotes or Schmaltz. Like they’ve shown with the rest of their roster, the team is willing to trade anyone for the right price, and sitting on the sideline certainly won’t help Schmaltz’s market. With three more years remaining on his contract (after this one) he probably isn’t the top target for teams around the league, though if he was scoring at nearly a point-per-game again, he likely would have drawn some interest.
With their arena not yet ready to house them, the Coyotes are on a six-game road trip to start the year. After allowing 12 goals in their first two games (and 95 shots against, much to the chagrin of Karel Vejmelka), they now face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, before heading to Montreal, Ottawa, and Columbus. They won’t play at home until October 28, and won’t have one of their best offensive pieces in the lineup for up to two months.
It’s going to be a long season in the desert.
Coyotes Agree To Three-Year Extension With Karel Vejmelka
On Sunday, the Coyotes parted ways with one of their goalies in Scott Wedgewood. Today, they’re ensuring that Karel Vejmelka will be sticking around as Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that Arizona has agreed to a three-year extension with the netminder. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds (via Twitter) that the deal will carry a $2.725MM AAV.
The 25-year-old has certainly been a pleasant surprise for Arizona this season. He signed a one-year entry-level deal back in May after playing in the Czech Extraliga and at the time, he was viewed as organizational goaltending depth and not a serious candidate to make the NHL roster. However, a strong training camp earned him a spot with the Coyotes and he has taken off from there.
Vejmelka quickly took over from the since-traded Carter Hutton as Arizona’s starter and has done well, considering the circumstances. His save percentage of .905 is particularly impressive considering that the Coyotes’ roster is geared more towards draft lottery success than on-ice success this season. His performance has picked up in recent games as over his last ten starts, his save percentage is up to .912 while the Coyotes have won four of those contests.
With this agreement, Arizona will have at least part of their goalie tandem intact for the next three seasons. They’ve yet to recall someone to take Wedgewood’s spot following his trade with Ivan Prosvetov and Josef Korenar being the likely candidates to fill that spot down the stretch. Neither of them project to be full-time NHL goalies, however, so the Coyotes will likely be shopping for a new partner for Vejmelka in the offseason.