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Coyotes continue shakeup, waive former first-rounder Summers

ChrisSummers

The aftermath of Phoenix’s consecutive blowout losses continues.

On Thursday, the club placed Chris Summers on waivers, potentially severing ties to the young defenseman it selected in the first round (29th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Summers, 25, has appeared in 29 career contests for the Coyotes. He’s shuttled back and forth between the parent club and its AHL affiliate in Portland for most of the last two seasons -- this year, he made the Coyotes out of camp but had been a healthy scratch in all three games.

The move is just the latest in a flurry of action out of the desert.

On Wednesday, the club looked to “stabilize” its roster by shipping Lucas Lessio and Chris Brown to AHL Portland, recalling veterans Brandon Yip and Tim Kennedy.

Yip, 28, has 172 games of NHL experience on his resume and Kennedy, 27, has 125 — a far cry from the 20-year-old Lessio (three) and 22-year-old Brown (eight).

These moves came in the wake of back-to-back losses to San Jose and the New York Islanders, the latter a 6-1 whipping which was followed by the Coyotes holding a players-only meeting.

In explaining his roster moves, head coach Dave Tippett said his lineup needed more experience.

“Good efforts don’t win hockey games. You’ve got to finds ways to do things right to win hockey games,” he told the Coyotes website. “Both those young guys [Lessio and Brown] had good camps but the last couple games haven’t been as good.

“We’re just looking to stabilize right now with as many veteran guys as we can.”