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Andrei Kostitsyn is a Possibility

July 16, 2012, 7:48 AM ET [18 Comments]
Adam French
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It’s during these boring as all hell days of free agency that the grinding gridlock of nothingness makes for an unbearable miasmic manifestation that chokes out the lifeblood of every hockey fan. The wait is often the hardest part. Today is the day set by Shane Doan as the new “deadline” for his decision. Still there is little news about the franchises future and with the new CBA looming tortuously in the background; one has to wonder if he will actually make a choice today. The simple truth is that the Coyotes need to sign him. Whitney is gone and so are his 77 points, if they lose Doan they will have lost around 120+ points and 40+ goals...not to mention all the leadership, grit and tenacity, but that goes without saying. Without him there is a glaring hole in the offense that probably will sink the Coyotes out of the playoffs. Let’s have a look.

Sullivan – Hanzal – Vrbata

I’m almost 100% certain Sullivan was brought in to replace Whitney. Both play similar perimeter playmaking style games from the wing and both are veterans with high skill that can play on the PP. The big issue is simply Sullivan isn’t close to Whitney in terms of talent. There is also the worry that Vrbata’s magical chemistry with Whitney will be missed and he will likely return to his 20g 20a standard. This line is much weaker than last year. A healthy Hanzal will go a long way, but I can’t see either Vrbata or Sullivan pushing further than 20-20.

Boedker – Vermette – Doan (Should he stay)

This was a fantastic line used at times during the playoffs, and Vermette/Doan worked really well together. If Doan leaves you can see the glaring hole already, Korpikoski would take his place...and ya...not good. Boedker will be expected to make his mark this year as a top-six player. He has done his diligence and become a very good defensive forward, now he needs to bring that speed and skill to scoring. All the members of this line are good for 15 goals 40 points if things go right.

Moss – Gordon – Korpikoski

David Moss might be played at centre and will be tried there in the pre-season per Don Maloney, personally I don’t think he can beat out the top-3 and he isn’t a fourth line centre. I’m interested to see him play when healthy. He can be maddeningly inconsistent, yet he was good for about 15-20 goals usually. Gordon is the defensive specialist as is Korpi. This line would be pretty hard to play against in my opinion and extremely responsible defensively. The difficult part is that the team will need offense from all lines if they hope to win, and from the third line I’m worried about both Moss and Korpikoski’s ability to score. With less ice-time and PP time will they not put up the numbers they need?

Torres (When unsuspended) – Chipchura – Paul Bissonnette/Nick Johnson

I cringed openly when Don Maloney talked about the need to get Biznasty more playing time. Look the guy is funny and he’ll find himself on TSN in a few years when it’s either that or the Wheeling Nailers, but he isn’t a hockey player. This is a team that will be starved for scoring most nights and need all hands on deck. They can’t afford a 4 minute forward. Maybe I’m prejudiced against goons, yet I think pure fighters have no place on a hockey team. This line is pretty weak outside of Torres. Chipchura earned his deal through hard work and he is pretty good in a limited role. Torres though has shown he needs time to produce, he languished on the fourth line most of the year until the last few months of the season where he played with Doan and looked like a star. As for Johnson, not sure what the plans are for him. He had an ok year with Minnesota and the 26 year old has shown he can play hard.

Looking at these lines it’s hard to justify a playoff berth. Doan and Vrbata are the most likely to push 50 points with an outside shot at Vermette. The defense and goaltending will likely be solid-great, but they’ll need to score. With a host of teams improving either internally, getting a year older with their young players and just plain signing superstars, the Coyotes will be in tough to compete. There is one player on the market I would try to sign.

Andrei Kostitsyn.

Honestly, I don’t like him. He’s a highly talented meat head with inconsistency issues. I’m not certain what Tippett would do to him. Yet all that aside he would provide another scorer and round out a potentially dangerous top-9. Here is what I imagine would happen.

Sullivan – Hanzal – Vrbata
Boedker – Vermette – Doan
Korpikoski – Moss – Kostitsyn
Torres – Gordon – Chipchura

I love this line-up so much more. This would allow Biznasty to remain on the bench unless they are playing a team with a few bruisers and round out a top-9 with the potential for all to pot 15 goals. It could be the definition of team scoring. I also think this would help Gordon who plays 5 minutes of PK a night, but contributes very little in the offensive zone. This way there are three scoring lines and a shutdown line. Tippett loves to change things up on the fly anyways and having Kostitsyn would bring another 15-20 scorer.

The negatives of a signing like that is that he is lazy, which on this team means benched. His younger brother Sergei learned in Nashville how to be an effective player and blended well, there is no guarantee that would happen with Andrei however. It’s a risky signing and only makes sense if Shane Doan is back. Maybe he can learn and grow as a player. At 27 he is still relatively young and his play in Nashville was quite strong for the most part. 3 million for one year is what I would give him.

Low risk and high reward for a team that needs to hit the cap floor. I’d do it...would you? Would the team?

Thanks for reading.

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