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Lombardi a Yote again and Center Depth?

January 16, 2013, 8:25 PM ET [54 Comments]
Adam French
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Phoenix Acquires Matthew Lombardi for a 4th round pick in 2014.

We continue the trend of going back to the old days. Lombardi had his best season in Phoenix. He practiced here too and Elliot Friedman pondered if this move would be made a week ago. So here it is. Like the previous deal with Lombardi, this one comes with a question mark, it’s a 4th round pick or a 3rd if he signs with the Coyotes after the season (Nashville had a similar clause but based on games played).

Lombardi is a speedster, known for his north/south game and…well speed. That’s what the 30 year old center has carved a career out of. In Toronto he looked lost and like a guy who just came off a year off. Not unremarkable, injuries affect people differently. The big question here is how it affects the club. The Coyotes obviously wish to help their center depth and will not risk losing a playoff spot on Moss finding his game there and Chipchura as a center option.

What we have is a top 4 center group going in like this.

Vermette
Hanzal
Lombardi
Gordon

Unless somebody beats Lombardi out that’s his post. That has no superstars but a lot of depth and two-way play. Lombardi might be a bust, hell he sucked as a Leaf in limited play, but you wonder what a year of rehab has done for him, plus an old environment. He once scored his career high 19 goals and 53 points here in 2009. When he left Phoenix for Nashville he was a guy that could anchor a second line and provide two-way speed and PK prowess, what they got was Mike Fisher later since Lombardi was injured. I don’t expect too much out of him and I might even question him over Gordon at third line, but Gordon is the shutdown center. You have to hope he’s ok and ready to fill in as a third line C or LW.

Tippett loves hard working guys, and that is what Lombardi was, so let’s hope he brings the same spirit here this time as he did last…oh and please don’t make this another desperate attempt to link Doan with an old centerman, we had enough with Langkow, he proved to be ok but not the guy he used to be.

What do you think of the deal? Can Lombardi bounce back to a 15-20 goal 40 point man? Or is this Nonis’ first…fleece? The Gilded Fleece? Because in the end, I think it's a very small move by a team looking to get a bottom-6 guy from a team overburdened by the sort and looking to open room for their young players on the 3rd or 4th line.
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