Mammoth Rumors

Arizona Coyotes Fire Lindsay Hofford

September 22, 2020 at 12:45 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 7 Comments

The Arizona Coyotes recently brought in a new GM when they hired Bill Armstrong, but the changes aren’t going to stop there. The organization is expected to make sweeping changes to the hockey operations staff and today started things off with the firing of director of scouting Lindsay Hofford. According to Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider, Armstrong explained that the termination was “due to [the Coyotes] commitment to change culture within the organization.”

Hofford, who also served as assistant general manager under former GM John Chayka, was part of the front office that recently received immense penalties from the league for scouting violations. The Coyotes were stripped of a first and a second-round pick for conducting physical testing of prospects outside of the combine, though no individual members of the staff received any discipline from the league.

Under Armstrong, Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that the organization will be “all about culture change” as they look to right the ship and move towards credibility again in the league. While the on-ice product has plenty of talent, this summer seemed to bring endless controversy and scandal. Not only was the team penalized by the league for their draft violations, but Chayka also left in an ugly public divorce and several reports have emerged that the team was late on bonus payments to players and payments to the company that owns Gila River Arena.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic has also reported several times that the Coyotes intend to slash player payroll dramatically thanks to an uncertain financial situation caused by the COVID-19 shutdowns. Armstrong prepared a 90-page presentation for his interview with management that outlined a five-year plan, but there is obviously plenty of work to do to get the team headed back in the right direction. Hofford’s firing will not be the last change this offseason.

Coyotes Listening To Offers For Oliver Ekman-Larsson

September 18, 2020 at 5:01 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 18 Comments

With the NHL off-season right around the corner and several notable trades having already occurred in recent weeks, the trade winds are blowing around the league. One of the more intriguing players who may be available is Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that there is interest in the star defenseman, naming the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers as three teams that have checked in. However, he adds that there are undoubtedly more interested teams.

Ekman-Larsson, who comes in at No. 2 on The Athletic’s list of top trade targets, has been an elite defenseman in the NHL since he broke into the league full-time in 2011-12. A true two-way blue liner who is good for 40+ points and 150+ hits nearly every year, Ekman-Larsson plays big minutes and in every situation. He would be an asset to any team in the NHL.

However, Ekman-Larsson also comes with the price tag of an $8.25MM cap hit over seven more years. For that reason, The Athletic accurately states that there is some substantial risk in acquiring the Swedish star. TSN’s Travis Yost also warns that most defensemen begin to decline after the age of 27 and Ekman-Larsson, 29, has already shown some signs of slipping.

With that said, any team interested in Ekman-Larsson also knows that they hold all the leverage in trade talks. While the Coyotes don’t necessarily have to trade Ekman-Larsson, they need to move a player, or likely several, this off-season. Arizona is in the worst salary cap position in the league with only about $1MM in cap space and only 17 regulars signed. While the team can get $5.275MM in relief from placing Marian Hossa on the injured reserve, they are still only left with about $6.5MM and six roster spots to fill, including three key restricted free agents to sign. If the ’Yotes choose to move Ekman-Larsson, it would do wonders for their salary cap situation. Yet, they also stand very little chance of getting fair value back for him due to their desperate situation. For that reason, new GM Bill Armstrong may not want his first major move to be dealing away a franchise icon for pennies on the dollar.

For now, it seems teams are only kicking the tires and the Coyotes have not made a decision on whether Ekman-Larsson is actually available. However, in the difficult flat-cap environment facing many teams this off-season, there is no way of knowing what could happen. Ekman-Larsson could very well start next season on a new team and it might not even take a blockbuster to get him.

Darcy Kuemper Drawing Trade Interest

September 17, 2020 at 1:27 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 21 Comments

New Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong has plenty of work to do in the coming weeks, especially if the reports of slashing payroll are true. The Coyotes could be one of the team’s most affected by the current financial landscape in the NHL, meaning sweeping changes may come to their roster this offseason.

One player drawing plenty of interest is goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has been asked about by the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, and San Jose Sharks. Each of those teams has uncertainty in net for the 2020-21 season, or at least could use an upgrade at the position.

Kuemper, 30, has two years left on his contract with the Coyotes and carries a $4.5MM cap hit but has been one of the most dominant goaltenders in the league for the last several seasons. Since the start of 2017-18, Kuemper has posted a 55-38-15 record with 11 shutouts and a .924 save percentage in 113 appearances. He finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting a year ago but ended up playing in just 29 regular season games this year due to injury.

In a recent column by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, James Reimer’s name is listed as a possible target for Arizona, given that almost his entire salary has already been paid out in the form of a signing bonus. Reimer has just $850K left to earn this year, and LeBrun also notes that Kuemper is a target for Carolina. Reimer and Petr Mrazek split the duties in Carolina this season and were just okay, a continuing theme for the Hurricanes goaltending situation over the last several years.

The Coyotes of course also have Adin Hill freshly inked to a new contract and ready to take on at least a backup role at the NHL level. They don’t necessarily need to bring a goaltender back in any Kuemper deal, leaving the netminding duties to Hill and Antti Raanta this season.

Kuemper also isn’t the only Arizona player being asked about. The Flames, Oilers and Boston Bruins have all “checked in” on Oliver Ekman-Larsson according to Friedman, while the Colorado Avalanche have asked about Niklas Hjalmarsson. If the team is really looking to cut payroll, captain Ekman-Larsson would obviously be an easy target, given the seven years and $58MM remaining on his huge extension signed in 2018. The 29-year-old defenseman does however have a no-movement clause, complicating any potential trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Arizona Coyotes Hire Bill Armstrong

September 17, 2020 at 11:00 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

Thursday: The team has officially announced Armstrong as the new GM. Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez released a statement on the hire:

We are very excited to welcome Bill to the Coyotes as our new General Manager. We were extremely impressed with his experience, vast hockey knowledge, great ability to assess talent, and his tremendous draft record. Bill is a proven winner who has a strong work ethic and is a good communicator. He is a man of integrity and we are confident that he’s the right person to build a winning culture here and lead our hockey operations department into the future.

Wednesday: The Arizona Coyotes have still been slowly working their way through their offseason work, with the latest move coming yesterday when they signed Adin Hill to a new one-year contract. Still, that work is being done without a full-time GM, as Steve Sullivan fills in while they look for a new front office leader.

Last night, Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reported that the team had made an offer to Bill Armstrong to become their next GM. Armstrong currently serves as AGM with the St. Louis Blues. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (among others) confirmed that Armstrong is the leading candidate and could get the job “over the next day or so.” Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet are both reporting that the deal is done with Armstrong to become the team’s next GM. The expectation is he will be signing a five-year contract with the team, worth more than $1MM per season.

If you were a fan of the Hershey Bears or Providence Bruins in the early nineties, you may remember Armstrong as the massive, old-school defenseman that was more than willing to drop the gloves at a moment’s notice. A third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, the 6’5″ Armstrong would never make the NHL, instead settling for 1,169 penalty minutes in 439 AHL contests. Soon after his retirement from playing in 1998 he joined the P-Bruins as an assistant coach, before taking over the head coaching duties a few years later.

Eventually, Armstrong found his way to the Blues in 2004 as a scout and has been with the organization ever since. In 2018 he became an assistant GM for Doug Armstrong—to which there is no relation—after Martin Brodeur left the organization.

The Coyotes are looking for a new GM after John Chayka’s ugly public divorce from the team earlier this summer. Formerly the youngest GM in the league, Chayka had served in the role since 2016 but terminated his contract with the team in July.

Adin Hill Signs With Arizona Coyotes

September 15, 2020 at 11:07 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Arizona Coyotes have reached an agreement with one of their organizational goalies, signing Adin Hill to a one-year, one-way contract. The financial details were not released by the team, but Pierre Lebrun of The Athletic quickly reported the contract is worth $800K. Hill was scheduled to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, but will now kick the free agency can down the road a year.

Hill, 24, appeared to be the goalie of the future at one point for the Coyotes when they used the 76th overall pick in 2015 to select him out of the WHL. As the team moved to Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper, both All-Star options, Hill has been somewhat pushed onto the back burner, but he still represents an interesting option for the Coyotes.

In fact, with Raanta entering his final season under contract and Kuemper down to just two years left on his deal, there has been near-constant rumors swirling that the Coyotes will look to move one of them this offseason. That would save money for a team in turmoil, while also providing Hill with an opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level once again.

Every time he’s been asked, he’s responded to this point. In 30 NHL appearances, Hill has a .907 save percentage but showed he had taken a step forward this season when he posted a .918 in 13 games while the team dealt with injuries to their regular starters. He played his best hockey at the minor league level as well, posting a 15-5 record in 20 games with the Tucson Roadrunners.

As with any goaltending signing these days, the upcoming expansion draft also may play a role. The Coyotes can only protect one goaltender from selection in the 2021 Seattle Kraken draft, but also need to leave at least one that is signed through 2021-22 unprotected. Kuemper is the only goaltender who currently fills that requirement, while Hill may be the better option to protect anyway if they believe he can be a long-term option in the NHL.

At $800K, he certainly represents an inexpensive option if they do move one of their two other goaltenders this offseason.

Offseason Keys: Arizona Coyotes

September 12, 2020 at 11:55 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

As teams are eliminated from the playoffs, it means that the offseason has arrived for several more squads. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the official first round. Next up is a look at Arizona.

On the ice, 2019-20 was a decent one for the Coyotes. They got past Nashville in the Qualifying Round before being ousted by Colorado but it was still their first playoff appearance since 2011-12. They have a solid defense corps and two good goalies and several foundational pieces under contract. But things aren’t exactly looking up. Their GM resigned, they were stripped of two high draft picks, and as a small-market team, the pandemic could hit them harder than most; Katie Strang of The Athletic reported (Twitter link) last week that they were late on some signing bonus payments although that has since been resolved. As a result, there’s a lot to do on their to-do list over the coming months and plenty of questions along the way.

Hire New GM

First things first. Before making important decisions on what to do with their roster, the Coyotes need to decide who is making the decisions. Following the strange and very public resignation of John Chayka, assistant GM Steve Sullivan has taken on the interim role for the time being and will certainly garner consideration to take on the role on a full-time basis.

A handful of names have been linked to Arizona in their search so far including Pittsburgh assistant GM Jason Karmanos, Canadiens scout Sean Burke, and broadcaster Pierre McGuire though the latter has since been ruled out of contention. The one thing that stands out right away is a lack of GM experience which suggests they’re looking for a first-time option that likely will come a little cheaper than some of the more prominent veteran options and at a time where revenues are minimal at best, that’s not a small thing either.

One thing they’ll have to decide on is what type of GM they want. Chayka was a strong proponent of significant use of analytics and that has yielded some mixed results along the way. Do they continue in that direction or look for someone with a different mindset?

With the draft and free agency both less than a month away now, this isn’t a decision that can realistically be put off for much longer. While it’s possible that Sullivan could guide them through those two events while still retaining the interim tag which would save some money in the short term, that would take away an opportunity if someone other than Sullivan gets the job to remake the team. Accordingly, this is something that should be addressed in the near future.

Re-Sign Hall

I’m not sure how realistic this is but it simply can’t go without mentioning that re-signing the top free agent forward that’s set to hit the open market next month would be a huge boost for Arizona’s offseason. The Coyotes surprised many by adding the 2018 Hart Trophy winner in a midseason trade from New Jersey and while his numbers don’t jump off the chart, he was an important player for them in the second half of the season and in the playoffs and retaining him would give their forward group a big lift.

However, how much is that going to cost? Two years ago, it seemed like Hall was well on his way to an eight-figure AAV. While unprecedented (at the time) for a winger, he looked to have turned the corner with New Jersey. Things haven’t gone as well since then. In fact, thanks to injuries last season and the pandemic this year, his combined point total over that span is actually lower than his Hart-winning campaign. Between that and revenues bottoming out, it’s safe to take the $10MM-plus price tag off the table.

But it’s also safe to say that he’s going to get a raise on the $6MM he made on his most recent deal and certainly more than the $3MM that Arizona was responsible for with the Devils retaining half of his salary and cap hit as part of the trade. That’s going to be difficult for them to accomplish (more on that shortly).

On top of the financial challenge, Hall has also stated that going to a winning team will be a priority for him. For all of the talent he has, he has been in the playoffs twice in his 10-year career and had it not been for the expanded format due to the pandemic, he wouldn’t have made it this year. Convincing Hall that the Coyotes will be a contender for years to come with him will be a challenge, especially without the ability to spend top dollar and, for now at least, no GM in place. Getting Hall locked up would be a huge boon to their offseason if they could pull it off but they have their work cut out for them.

Free Up Cap Space

Let’s talk about that cap situation in more detail. Hall coming off the books only frees up $3MM which isn’t much to work with. Carl Soderberg’s $4.75MM AAV is also off the books as is Brad Richardson’s $1.25MM but adding those three up might be what it takes to re-sign Hall let alone having to fill Soderberg and Richardson’s roster spots.

On top of that, the Coyotes also have new contracts for two key players starting next season. Starting goalie Darcy Kuemper gets a raise from $1.85MM to $4.5MM while Clayton Keller bypassing a bridge contract means he goes from his entry-level salary of less than $900K to $7.15MM. On top of that, he hit some performance bonuses which has left them with an overage of nearly $400K to roll over to 2020-21, per CapFriendly. (That can be amortized over two years but it wouldn’t make much of a difference considering the relatively low amount.)

All told, Arizona has a little over $80MM in commitments for next season already, excluding the bonus penalty. Granted, that includes Marian Hossa and his $5.275MM AAV which will once again be LTIR-bound but that still doesn’t give them much room to work with. Forget about re-signing Hall for a moment, they probably need to free up room simply to fill out the rest of their roster.

Speculatively speaking, this could be an opportunity to deal one of their defensemen. Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s ($8.25MM) name has come up in speculation already but moving their captain would open up a big hole on their back end. Alternatively, they could look to move one of Alex Goligoski ($5.475MM) or Niklas Hjalmarsson ($5MM); while both are pricey, they have one year left on their contracts and it’s a weak free agent market. Up front, Michael Grabner is a big threat shorthanded but he was a healthy scratch at times and his $3.35MM price tag is a bit expensive for that. Backup goalie Antti Raanta ($4.25MM) also looks expendable.

If they can find a team that is willing to take on some salary, Arizona should be looking for draft picks in return. They dealt their 2020 first-rounder for Hall and lost their 2021 first-rounder and 2020 second-round pick for fitness testing violations. Between those and other moves, they have one pick total out of the first three rounds over the next two years. On top of that, they dealt their 2017 first-round pick in blueline prospect Pierre-Oliver Joseph to Pittsburgh as part of the Phil Kessel trade. The cupboards are getting bare and finding a way to restock those while freeing up some cap space will be important.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coyotes Interview Pierre McGuire For GM Position

September 7, 2020 at 1:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 10 Comments

The Oilers are among the teams that have kicked the tires on Penguins goalie Matt Murray, reports Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. They have a vacancy to fill between the pipes with Mike Smith slated to become an unrestricted free agent. However, with the limited cap space they have and several RFAs in need of new deals including winger Andreas Athanasiou and defensemen Matt Benning and Ethan Bear, they probably won’t be able to afford the salary that Murray, an RFA himself, will likely command in the coming months. Instead, they will probably have to shop at the cheaper end of the goalie market to find Mikko Koskinen’s partner for next season.

Free Agent Focus: Arizona Coyotes

September 7, 2020 at 12:18 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

While the official start date of free agency remains in flux depending on when the playoffs end (the later of October 9th or a week after the completion of the Stanley Cup Final), many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Arizona has been in constant turmoil for two decades and now face an offseason with incredible challenges.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Christian Fischer – What happened to the promising young power forward that scored 15 goals and 33 points as a rookie? Fischer, a second-round pick from 2015, burst onto the scene with the Coyotes in 2017-18 as a 20-year old wrecking ball, using his 6’2″ frame effectively to punish opponents and create offense. Now 23, Fischer is coming off a nine-point season that saw him averaging less than ten minutes a night in the second half. That offensive drop off coincided with plummeting possession stats, while the playoffs didn’t bring much change. In nine postseason games, Fischer recorded just one point. He shouldn’t be expensive for the Coyotes to retain after that dreadful year, but a return to form for Fischer would go a long way in helping the Coyotes lengthen out their lineup.

F Vinnie Hinostroza – You can basically cut-and-paste the disappointing year quotes for Hinostroza, who scored just five goals in 2019-20 after tallying 16 in his first year with Arizona. The 26-year-old forward ended with just 22 points in 68 games, a substantial step backward for a player that was an exciting piece of the Marian Hossa deal in 2018. Unlike with Fischer however, Hinostroza is heading into restricted free agency for the final time, is arbitration-eligible and could potentially be a player the Coyotes walk away from if things are getting too expensive. He’s coming off a contract that paid him just $1.5MM this season, and it’s hard to imagine him providing much excess value for whatever the arbitrator awards.

Other RFAs: D Ilya Lyubushkin, D Jordan Gross, D Dane Birks, D Kyle Capobianco, D Vili Saarijarvi, D Jalen Smereck, G Merrick Madsen, G Adin Hill

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Taylor Hall – Here’s where the real tough decisions come for the Coyotes. Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, Kevin Bahl, and two high draft picks is what the Coyotes paid for 44 games of Hall. 12 goals, 33 points, and a first-round exit were the return, not exactly what they were hoping for when they made the deal with New Jersey midway through the season. Now, a team operating without a permanent GM is trying to sell Hall on the perks of remaining a Coyote, but it’s hard to imagine him taking any contract before seeing what’s available on the open market. The former MVP is still an excellent offensive player and he’s only 28. While his market may be significantly depressed by the flat cap, that doesn’t mean he’s going to come cheap. The Coyotes aren’t really in a position to be giving out the biggest contract of the offseason, meaning they may end up without a chair when the music stops on Hall’s free agency.

F Carl Soderberg – A veteran forward with a history with the Boston Bruins finished third in goals for the Coyotes in their first season in Arizona. Phil Kessel? No, it’s Soderberg, who ended up with 17 goals and 35 points in 70 games (Kessel had 14 and 38) while playing nearly 16 minutes a night. That ridiculous 14-point season in 2016-17 is the obvious outlier now for Soderberg, who has scored at least 12 goals and 35 points in each of his other six NHL seasons. After just one season in Arizona, Soderberg will be 35 next month and could find himself on the way out given the team’s cap crunch. You can bet other teams are watching to see if the veteran center will hit the open market as a strong depth option.

Other UFAs: F Brad Richardson, F Markus Hannikainen, F Beau Bennett, D Robbie Russo

Projected Cap Space

That flat cap will have several teams struggling to piece together the offseason puzzle, perhaps in Arizona most of all. Even without Hall, the team has more than $80MM committed for next season thanks to expensive extensions kicking in for Darcy Kuemper and Clayton Keller. Hossa’s $5.275MM cap hit will be kept on long-term injured reserve again to give some added flexibility, but even so, the team is going to be cap-strapped in the offseason. That’s exactly the reason why captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s name has already been floated in the trade rumor mill, along with several other of the team’s veteran defensemen—Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers, and Jordan Oesterle are all unrestricted after next season.

If Hall is to come anywhere near a return to Arizona, the team is going to have to move some money out. Does interim GM Steve Sullivan pull that trigger, or will the team wait for their next front-office leader to be hired before issuing sweeping changes to the roster?

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Sean Burke Interviews For Arizona Coyotes’ GM Position

September 6, 2020 at 10:25 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes have already started their interviewing process for their open general manager position. Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reported that the team has already interviewed Sean Burke, who has spent 12 years with the organization off and on, most recently served as the GM for Hockey Canada.

Burke, who played for nine teams over 20 years, including a five-year stint with the Coyotes, lives in the Valley, and is an obvious candidate for the position. He was hired in 2008 by Arizona (Phoenix then) to serve as director of prospect development. He also was an assistant general manager for the team as well as a goaltending coach at different times during his tenure before accepting a scouting job with the Montreal Canadiens in September of 2016. In July of 2017, Burke was named general manager of Hockey Canada, a post he held until 2019.

Burke is likely the first of many candidates likely to roll through Phoenix with the hopes of landing the GM position as owner Alex Meruelo and new team president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez are looking to make a big hire to start their tenure off right. Interim general manager Steve Sullivan is also a candidate, while the team just interviewed assistant general manager Jason Karmanos on Thursday.

Latest On Arizona Coyotes GM Search

September 4, 2020 at 11:59 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes are currently working through the first part of their offseason with Steve Sullivan serving as interim GM, after their public breakup with John Chayka earlier in the summer. While they’ve made pitches to Taylor Hall in the meantime and have sent several prospects overseas to continue their development, it will be difficult to navigate the true offseason after the Stanley Cup is awarded without someone in place (though, the Coyotes don’t have a draft pick until the fourth round this season, after being penalized by the league). Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reports that a new name has been added to the list of candidates; Jason Karmanos an assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins was interviewed on Thursday.

Karmanos, as you may surmise from his name, is the son of former Carolina Panthers majority owner Peter Karmanos. He served as an AGM and vice president of hockey operations in Carolina for fifteen years before following Jim Rutherford to Pittsburgh. Prior to his career as an executive, Karmanos was also a good player for Harvard University, even suiting up for Team USA at the 1994 World Juniors. Speaking of Harvard, there is an obvious connection there with the Coyotes, as new team president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez is also a grad of the prestigious school.

Already there was some speculation that the Penguins could look to bring back former GM Jason Botterill, after his firing from the Buffalo Sabres. Rutherford did bring back a familiar face in Todd Reirden recently, sparking thought that Botterill could make his return to the front office as well. Should Karmanos leave, there would be an obvious opening.

Still, it’s not clear where the Coyotes are leaning in their search. The team simply can’t stay away from controversy as they try to build up their image under new ownership and were unceremoniously eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs. Arizona collapsed in games four and five, losing 7-1 in both matches.

Now without a first-round draft pick until 202 and more than half the roster scheduled for unrestricted free agency before the 2021-22 season, sweeping changes could be made in Arizona under new management. Even beyond Hall, who is a UFA this fall, Derek Stepan, Michael Grabner, Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers, Jordan Oesterle, and Antti Raanta are all heading into their final years under contract. That’s a lot of decisions to be made by whoever takes over, though it also does provide an opportunity.

The team has just five players signed long-term, and though at least one of those names has been in the trade rumor mill—captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson—they represent a relatively young core that can still be built around. Top prospects Victor Soderstrom and Barrett Hayton represent real blue-chip talents that can be given full-time roles as well, should the new manager commit to a youth movement.

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