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Coyotes bring back Moss, after all

Phoenix Coyotes v Calgary Flames

CALGARY, AB - JANUARY 22: David Moss #18 of the Phoenix Coyotes skates against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 22, 2014 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Flames defeated the Coyotes 3-2. (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images)

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David Moss won’t be leaving the Arizona Coyotes for Switzerland, after all. What looked like a two-year overseas deal had a one-week NHL out clause, which apparently expedited the process to get him re-signed with the Coyotes, who locked him up for the 2014-15 season.

The Coyotes didn’t disclose his financial terms, but his last deal with the team was for two years and $4.2 million. Update: the deal might be a significant pay cut down to $800K, according to the Arizona Republic’s Sarah McLellan. If so, that’s a nice value for Arizona.

While he doesn’t exactly inspire a ton of excitement, Coyotes blog Five for Howling details why the 32-year-old is fairly useful and could be primed for a slight boost in production next season:

Was Moss not productive, or was he simply unlucky? The advanced stats actually like Moss’ game, as he has been a positive player in both Corsi for and Fenwick for in both of seasons in the Valley. In both of his seasons as a Coyote, the team was more likely to score when he was on the ice than not, although for 2014 it was only a .3% difference, so it was almost negligible. He also has had some trouble finishing as he had a shooting percentage of 6.1% last year and a staggeringly bad 5.3% this season. How bad is 5.3%? Only 12 other NHL forwards had at least 100 shots on goal this season and had a worse success rate than Moss, and of those 12 only 1, Thomas Fleischmann of Florida, attempted more shots than Moss’ 151 (188). That’s really tough, and one shouldn’t expect another dismal season like that again, right? Not so fast, as Moss’ PDO was actually 100.5, and the league normal rate is 100. So he wasn’t incredibly unlucky in a statistical sense.

So, long story short, Moss is probably best described as “solid if easily replaceable.” Considering all the turnover this offseason, it might be nice to keep what seems like a solid depth guy around, though.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins