Finally, Some Real News!!
As much I as I like discussing the old assistant GM and the weird political decisions of the Arizona State Senate, there is some actual hockey related news to discuss: The Coyotes re-signed defenseman Chris Summers yesterday.
Summers, 26, was drafted in the first round, 29th overall in 2006. He took a while to develop, but the patience shown to him was rewarded this past season when he was recalled and played in 18 games, getting 2 goals and an assist.
It appears that his contract is two years for just over a million, total. This is a great contract for the team because, for a guy who is going to make near the league minimum, the Coyotes get a player who is reliable and fast, and though it is unknown if he'll crack the team and skate a regular shift in the NHL, he provides depth, and (for the price, in a salary cap system) represents some serious value as he is a reliable player who can be slotted into the lineup with no salary cap implications (of course this only really matters if the Coyotes spend near or to the cap).
Summers is a very fast skater and although he isn't too offensive or much of a hitter, he provides good defense by being a smart player. He is probably never going to be a high-in-the -line-up player because he is never going to score much, but his speed makes him versatile and he won't cost you with dumb plays as he is a low risk/ low reward kind of guy.
In the last four seasons, Summers has worked hard to crack the Coyotes line-up on a more regular basis. He made his NHL debut in 2010-11, playing 2 games. He followed that up by playing 21, 6 and 18 games over the last three seasons.
I would expect him to be the Coyotes 6th or 7th defenseman next season, though there is potential here and he could surprise, earn the coaches trust and get into more games. As a depth defenseman, you couldn't ask for a better guy, mostly because of his speed.
Added into the ridiculous group of Gormley, Stone, OEL, Yandle, Murphy and Michalek, it might appear that Summers will have a hard time cracking the lineup, but that is before the team makes any changes. And they have to make some changes here.
While young and, frankly, amazing, this group of defenseman will not remain in tact. For one reason, the Coyotes are going to have to deal from their position of strength to shore up their offense, which is as weak as the defense is strong.
Secondly, it remains to be seem if this group of defenseman is balanced enough to dress for 82 games + playoffs. While incredibly young and talented, this is a group that - outside of Michalek - is decidedly un-physical and consisting of mostly offensive minded players.
Now, do not get me wrong, this is a bit of a nuanced argument here: OEL is a good defensive player, despite not being very physical. Yandle is underrated defensively, but he still isn't going on the PK any time soon. Stone, Gormley and Murphy are all considered (more or less) two-way defenseman, but none of them are physically imposing or tough to play against.
What this means is that even if the Coyotes could dominate possession by employing a slick, fast, puck moving group of defenseman, they will be exposed because they - as a group - are weak physically and not hard to play against.
The Leafs dressed a similar style of defenseman this year and it didn't work out. Phaneuf, Franson, Rielly, Gardiner, Rangers and for half the season, Liles were who they dressed, and while most of those guys are good players, the unbalanced nature of their make-up was, in my opinion, too heavily weighted towards offensive guys.
I believe - and this is just my theory - that since you can only realistically score around 3 goals per game, that after a certain point, it doesn't pay to replicate skill sets. I know there are people who will disagree, but I feel like you have to have at least 2 players who other teams do not like to play against. A hockey game is a grind and you have to make it hard on teams to play in your end. If you don't - or can't - you are just going to collectively allow too many shots and uncontested rebounds over a full season to be successful.
Yes, fast puck moving defenseman help control possession, but even if you dominate possession, you still don't have the puck for 40% of the game and if you can't punish guys in your own end, I feel your team will have hard time winning a ton of games.
To me, optimally, you would have at least 3 defenseman who will cross check guys in the face and make them think twice about going to your net. If you look at the Leafs this past year, they only had Phaneuf who was physically imposing, and he also happened to be their best offensive defenseman, and so the last thing he can afford to do is take a ton of penalties. They eventually added Gleason, but he was too slow to be effective, leaving them constantly dominated in shots because they couldn't get the puck out of their zone.
The Coyotes and the make-up of their D is similar, but obviously not as pronounced because they are far more talented as a group. Still, outside of Michale, there is no + defensive zone player on the roster.
This is where Summers will really come in handy, because the Coyotes are going to have to move out at least one, probably two of Yandle, Stone, Gormley or Murphy, and with Summers there to step in, they can afford to do so.
Ideally, they will acquire at least one more physical, solid defenseman to compliment Michalek, and with Summers reliability and OEL's greatness this will allow them to achieve the necessary balance without diluting the talent base too much.
Overall, you have to hand it to the Coyotes for their patience with a guy drafted 8 years ago (he did go the college route which may have exasperated his development) and for resigning him to such a good contract.
A solid start to the summer.