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Coyotes recall ’12 first-rounder Samuelsson, youth movement underway?

Los Angeles Kings v Arizona Coyotes

Los Angeles Kings v Arizona Coyotes

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Plummeting down the standings and likely to be a seller leading up to Monday’s trade deadline, Arizona kicked off what could be a youth movement by recalling Henrik Samuelsson from AHL Portland on Wednesday.

Samuelsson, 21, was the club’s first-round pick (27th overall) at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He’s scored 10 goals and 25 points in 50 games with the Pirates this season -- his first in the AHL -- this coming after a stellar junior career in which he led WHL Edmonton to a Memorial Cup.

Samuelsson will join a Coyotes’ forward group that already includes two 22-year-olds in Lucas Lessio and Tobias Rieder. On defense, Arizona is currently carrying the likes of 21-year-old Connor Murphy and two 23-year-olds in Brandon Gormley and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

In late January, Coyotes GM Don Maloney said the club might also give 19-year-old Max Domi -- the team’s first-round pick at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft -- his big-league debut this season, once he was done playing with OHL London.

All of this points to the likelihood of an Antoine Vermette trade happening in the not-too-distant future. Other vets like Martin Erat, Zbynek Michalek, David Moss and Keith Yandle could also be on the move.