Hello and welcome.
The Coyotes have made zero roster moves since getting a new GM, but rumors abound and things happen. Such as....
Good News:
The Good News is that the Bad News isn't very bad - it only makes for a catchier title.
The other Good News is that now, thanks to the Florida Panthers and their curious decision to wear the hockey equivalent of Crocs as a jersey, the Arizona Coyotes no longer have the worst jersey in the NHL.
Whatever style these new jersey designs are, it is lost on me. Maybe I'm just old though, cause I still think you should probably bend your baseball cap rim and I am way too big a fan of denim jackets to really comment credibly on any kind of fashion choice.
Now, a song about how great I am.
The Bad News:
Jiri Sekac is outta here!
Weak. Basically the only good move of Don Maloney's last year was getting Sekac off waivers.
He was actually a decent possession driver and a great addition to any teams fourth line with the talent to maybe eventually move higher in the lineup. He was one of the few players I was hoping would be back.
That being said, in Russia, his name translates to Sidnovski Crosboskivov and he is the best player in the KHL, so that's probably better than being an NHL fourth liner, even if the whole team has to drive to all of their games in a single 1992 Ford Windstar.
Nonsense:
Trading Hanzal? According to the venerable Elliotte "Ellllllllioooooooooottte" Friedman, the Coyotes have asked Hanzal for a list of teams he'd like to be traded to.
I know Hanzal is the only NHL player with his own line of scrubs, but he is also the only good Coyotes forward who isn't a kid.
Antoine Vermette is terrible and Shane Doan is only back because he's Shane Doan and not because he is a better than average third liner in 2016-17.
Hanzal costs almost nothing and is singed for the upcoming season at $3.1, at which point he'll become a UFA.
The contract is good and he's a good player with tons of size and skill, so if he was less injury prone, he would probably be an amazing trade chip that would bring back assets to help the rebuild. I'd be all for it in that case.
And of course it does make sense to trade your UFAs and get something for them instead of nothing. But, if that is the case, why rush it? If he happens to be healthy and effective you can get a lot more for him at the deadline than you could now. Plus, in that situation, you at least get the benefit of whatever he does for another six months and the hope that his style rubs off on the young players, because he is a very effective player.
Also, on the off chance that the Coyotes actually put together a playoff calibre team, it'd be preferable to have him than to not.
And so, why trade him now? Who is going to trade a top prospect for Martin Hanzal, when it's just as likely as not that he'd get hurt on the way to the city that traded for him? Especially when there's only five teams on his trade list that you can negotiate with.
Seems to me that if you're going to get a second rounder or a B prospect for him, you might as well keep him and hope he stays healthy, because if he does, he is extremely good. Then you can maybe move him at the deadline or re-sign him. (Since he's so injury prone he'll always come at a discount).
Also coming in under the Nonsense category is the NHL waiting three days to play the next game of the Finals. There should be a game every other night.
That is all.