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Coyotes promote Stone, demote Rundblad

michaelstonegetty

The Phoenix Coyotes allowed a total of 10 goals in two losses this weekend, so it’s not surprising that they decided to make a tweak or two. Specifically, the team swapped young blueliners on Monday as they recalled Mike Stone from the AHL and sent David Rundblad down to Portland.

Stone is a 22-year-old blueliner praised for his two-way play. He was drafted in third round (69th overalll) in 2008. The Winnipeg native has a decent amount of NHL experience under his belt as he played in 13 regular season games and two postseason contests last season.

Rundblad (also 22) has the kind of offensive talent that prompted St. Louis to draft him in the first round, but his work in his own end probably explains why he’s bounced around league systems in a short time. He has a -14 rating in 31 NHL games, including a -2 in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars.

As excited as the Coyotes are about both blueliners long-term, these aren’t the moves that single-handedly change a team’s fortunes.

Then again, you may recall that the team got off to a tough start last season - Mike Smith allowed six goals in an opening night shellacking - so it’s foolish to push the panic button too early.