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After Day One: The Wizard Disappears |
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The first day is always fun, even after you wade through the insane pile of drivel that a 10 hour broadcast with 8 signings becomes. The Coyotes this first day ended up as a loser. I don’t mean it in a way where I think they did poorly, just in the sense that there was an expected and major shift that will be difficult to fill. Ray Whitney leaves and David Moss arrives. While Pierre Maguire can overreact with bravado to this signing, I don’t find it the least bit comforting.
Whitney, as old as he was, was a top line forward. He is still in the top-20 best wingers in the game and if you dispute it, I’d like to hear your argument. I knew the two year deal would be the factor; Whitney wants to be around for as long as he can. Now we probably won’t know the details of just what was going on, money/term may must have been the factor as the Stars are not that close to contention and certainly are slightly behind the Coyotes in that aspect (Though if Doan leaves they certainly have the upper-hand). What this tells me is that the team must be extremely impressed with Mikkel Boedker’s breakout performance in the playoffs. The 22 year old has fought for his chance to break into the top-6 and will finally have the opportunity. Good luck to the Wizard in Dallas, they will love him, and I seriously hope he doesn’t take his magic away from Vrbata and Hanzal while he’s at it.
As for David Moss I’m a bit on the fence. I like the signing as he should be a good fit on the third line and be a guy that can chip in 10-20 goals if healthy and motivated. Motivation is the key as most Flames fans will tell you. Moss is maddeningly inconsistent in his scoring. At 2.1 a year for two years it isn’t a gross overpayment like most see on July 1st, but it is a hopeful projection number. At 2.1 they expect him to be the player who scored 20 goals in 2008 and the guy who had 17 goals in 58 games in 2010...not a 2 goal player. This signing is a solid move if he can stay healthy and buy into the system, if the team expects him to make any contribution close to what Doan/Whitney provided as Pierre Maguire suggested, then they are out to lunch.
As for Doan, Darren Dreger went on the record as saying he would wait until July 9th which is the tentative date for Jamieson’s ownership bid to be accepted/declined. He wants to be a Coyote going forward, but if they can’t find any stability he’ll move on.
Lastly they signed Chad Johnson to a one year deal. With McBackup leaving and Pogge being pretty poor in Portland the team just needs a solid AHL starter. The 26 year old was really solid for the Connecticut Whale and will likely split games with Mark Visentin.
Thanks for reading.
Follow me on Twitter @AdamFrenchReal
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