Judging by some of this off-season’s big moves, having “too many defensemen” is a problem most NHL teams would love to have.
The Arizona Coyotes seem loaded with options on the blueline, and that might just prompt them to make a trade, something new GM John Chayka admitted to the Arizona Republic.
“Anything can happen in camp, too, so you go from having some depth to potentially being a little lean pretty quickly in this league,” Chayka said. “We see it as a strength. If there’s an opportunity to deal from strength, then we’ll do that. But if there’s a move that makes sense for everybody and it certainly appears there’s a logjam right now, we’re open to improving our group and continuing to find a solution that makes everyone better.”
Interesting.
McLellan notes that the Coyotes view their top four defensemen as a combination of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Michael Stone and Connor Murphy.
The depth spots are where things get interesting. Arizona’s available options include Luke Schenn, Zbynek Michalek, Kevin Connauton, Klas Dahlbeck, Anthony DeAngelo, Jamie McBain and eventually Jarred Tinordi.
(And that’s assuming that 2016 first-round pick Jakob Chychrun doesn’t push for an immediate jump to the NHL ...)
Those defensemen have their flaws here and there, but almost every one of those depth names is marketable in some way or another.
It wouldn’t be shocking if the cost-conscious Coyotes pitched one of those guys to a GM whose team gets hit hard with early pre-season or regular season injuries.
With Vermette bought out, #Coyotes salary cap will tentatively sit at $64,152,125, however team will paying LESS than $51M in actual salary
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 1, 2016
One can debate the notion that Max Domi’s being a little hasty in pumping up Arizona’s playoff potential. Either way, it really feels like the Coyotes are building something interesting in the desert, and part of that comes down to buying up supplies in an area of heavy demand.
Could your team use one of those guys?