The Dallas Stars are looking to get younger on the blueline, and Alex Goligoski won’t be a part of that transition.
Instead, Dallas sent Goligoski’s negotiating rights to the Arizona Coyotes for a fifth-round pick (128th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Do note that acquiring the bargaining rights for “Gogo” does not mean that the Coyotes are guaranteed to sign the offensive defenseman. Instead, it gives them a window to try to lock him down before he can become an unrestricted free agent:
Coyotes GM John Chayka said the team has an exclusive negotiating window with UFA D Alex Goligoski until June 25.
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) June 16, 2016
Plan is for the Coyotes to fly Goligoski into Arizona within the next week to sell him on the team and market, etc...
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 16, 2016
That’s a decent chunk of time to get something done. Theoretically, Goligoski might be able to serve a similar role for the Coyotes that Keith Yandle once played.
Chayka on acquiring negotiatng rts: "It’s more about the confidence in what we have to sell here w/a team that's young&poised to break out."
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) June 16, 2016
(Goligoski can literally help the Coyotes with their breakout, too, as a nice puck-mover.)
This trade is a nice gain for the Stars, as they don’t lose a valuable defenseman to free agency for nothing. This bumps them up to six 2016 draft choices.
Dallas acquires the 128th overall selection from Arizona and will now have six total selections in the 2016 NHL Draft. The Stars have one selection in the first round (25th overall), one in the third round (90th), which was acquired from San Jose, one in the fourth round (116th), two in the fifth round (128th, 146th) and one in the sixth round (176th).
Goligoski can sign with Arizona or not, but either way, he distances himself from being “that guy the Stars got in the James Neal and Matt Niskanen trade.”
We’ll find out soon enough if this is the beginning of an exodus of UFA defensemen in Dallas, as Jason Demers and costly trade acquisition Kris Russell also need new deals.
Either way, it’s pretty easy to see the logic for each side of this trade.
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