This Saturday Morning Blog is going to be pretty quick because I have to go and play some Earthbound before we have to go to the family BBQ. That is one crazy game and the Wii U Virtual System is worth the cost of the system alone. Since getting the Wii U, I think I've played only one actual Wii U game and the rest are retro.
Anyway, sorry for the digression. Here's five players the Coyotes should add over the summer who are under-valued and likely available. One of the best things any team can do is identify players who are not properly value and then acquire said players. Here are five guys I think could really help the Coyotes next season.
1.Mark Pysyk.
A useful player who costs next to nothing (less than $2 Million Cap-Hit) and is undervalued because he doesn't really provide any offense, Psysk is exactly the player the Coyotes should be looking for.
He's a massive improvement on anyone but OEL and Stone, and he wouldn't cost much. What's Buffalo want for him? Pay it, it isn't likely to be too much.
2. Dmitri Jaskin
The Blues barely play him, so you have to figure he'd be available. He's 23, doesn't score much, but suppresses shots and plays a high possession game. I suspect he could be an elite defensive player eventually and the kind of player you stick with two offensive guys when trying to build a balanced lineup. If you're filling out your roster with cheap, young, high-possesssion players , you could do worse.
3. Magnus Paajarvi
Another under-rated, under-used player from the Blues, Paajarvi would go great with Reider, Sekera and Jaskin.
He brings you everything you need: defense, speed, high-possession game, and shot-suppression. And he's cheap, undervalued and cost-effective.
4. Valeri Nichushkin
He's a massive, talented failure and exactly the kind of player you take a chance on. The Stars - having lost - are in prime position to overreact and Nichushkin, having scored a lame 9 goals in 79 games and disappearing for long periods of a time, might be the perfect "change of scenery candidate" a team bails on too soon.
He's 21, highly talented, cheap, likely available and potentially a top-line winger (or out of the league after next year, it could go either way, but if you are a budget team, that's what you should look for).
5. Dan Hamhuis, UFA
Yes, he is 33, but Hamhuis is still one of the NHL's most under-appreciated players. The Coyotes current defense (OEL, Murphy, Stone, Dahlbeck, Conauton, Michalek, Grossmann) is, excepting OEL, worse than some team's AHL team. It is pure garbage and the best reason for having fired Don Maloney. (When you consider that there are no prospects to speak of in the pipeline who play D). Only OEL and Stone should be welcomed back.
Hamuis could anchor the second pair and probably really help fix the problems in Michael Stone's game.
I guess it's always a long-shot to hope people will sign in Arizona, but with low taxes, one of the nicest places to play, a chance at top minutes, a young team with potential.......a good salesman could sell him on it.
With no cap-hit to worry about, the Coyotes could overpay and get a nice stabilizing presence on the back-end.
That brings us to the end of the list. Thanks to waronice.com for the stats, and thanks to @mimicohero for the sweet graphics. Check them out at www.ownthepuck.blogspot.ca
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