Full disclosure: I've already written about this topic, and I also wrote once before that I think Duchene is a bit overrated.
So in my defense for the former, the Coyotes are in a way different position today than when I suggested they acquire him last time. As for the latter, I still think he's overated in the sense that people act like he's this superstar. He's a very good player on par with Nazem Kadri, Ryan Johansen and Dereck Stepan, give or take. He's no Tavares is all I'm saying. Still good. Just overated.
Preamble over.
The Coyotes acquired Jason Demers on Sunday and suddenly they have one of the best defense groups in the NHL - arguably a top three in my opinion.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is an elite player on par with Victor Hedman, Brett Burns and PK Subban. No one touches Karlsson, but for OEL its about when he wins a Norris, not if. Hjalmarsson is one of the games best defensive defenseman, Goligoski and Demers are above average second pairing guys, and Jacob Chychrun is 19 and potentially a franchise player.
Luke Schenn may not have lived up to the original hype, but as a #6 he has few peers. Clendenning is also a player who, given sufficient opportunity might just be a decent second pairing player.
The Coyotes Defense is stacked. Calgary, Anaheim, Nashville and the Coyotes - that's my top four NHL defenses, with also shoutouts to Carolina, Columbus and soon Philly. I think a very real argument can be made that the Coyotes have the best defense in the NHL, but I digress.
On foraward, the Coyotes have Domi, Dvorak, Strome, Keller, Stepan, Martinhook, Duclair and Perlini. That is eight pretty good players. Cousins, Richardson, Rieder and Crouse could all use an upgrade, but overall, this is a talented, somewhat deep group.
Combined with their defense and compared to the rest of the league, I think Annti Raanta makes them a playoff team. Like the Leafs last year, the Coyotes will surprise teams with their speed and skill, and they will be a match-up nightmare if they employ Keller, Strome and Domi across three different lines.
They also have 17 million dollars to spend (theoretically, at least) and all their draft picks.
So ask yourself how good this team would be if they signed Jagr and traded for Duchene? If they did that, and Strome and Keller live up to the hype, they could be one of the NHL's best teams.
With all these guys on ECLs the Coyotes are in a unique position to acquire more talent that can reasonably be expected to fit in under the salary cap under normal conditions.
If they overpay a bit to get Duchene, it will show that they're serious about winning and more importantly, it will be a signal to OEL that he should stick around when his contract is up.
The Coyotes can afford it.
They have the assets to get it done.
Doing it would give them - at least on paper - one of the NHL's best rosters. With players like Duchene and Jagr available, it wouldn't hurt to at least try.
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