Arizona Coyotes Trade Deadline Analysis

The Arizona Coyotes with their new general manager didn’t make any moves during general manager Bill Armstrong‘s first Arizona Coyotes NHL trade deadline in April of 2021. He stated then, “As a GM, it’s a great evaluation tool, to see what our core is like under the pressure. Going down the stretch I felt like our core deserves to stay together, and there wasn’t a fit out there for us,” Armstrong said.

Then, during the current Arizona Coyotes NHL trade deadline, he did make some moves, but many more were rumored to happen. Would he trade star defenseman Jakob Chychrun? What about Phil Kessel, who has wanted to be moved the entire season? That would be ‘no’ to both of those questions.

For Armstrong and his Coyotes team, he stands firm on the belief that building for the future is the best plan going forward. “When you go through the rebuild you want to keep moving forward,” Armstrong said. “That’s what this was all about; all of these moves. They were about making sure we got better and we feel like we got bigger, faster, younger and yet we were able to keep our (draft) picks intact when you consider the picks we got earlier for Ilya Lybushkin and the picks we got at the deadline.”

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The Departures

Forward Johan Larsson was dealt to the Washington Capitals for a third-round pick in 2023. Again, building for the future. Larsson had been injured but was due back in the lineup this week. He is a very adequate defensive forward who will score for you and plays the forecheck with the best of them. Armstrong had to retain 50 percent (about $439,000) of Larsson’s cap hit.

Riley Nash was sent back to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for “future considerations.” He will report to Syracuse of the AHL, but during the upcoming playoffs, he will be a good insurance policy if and when injuries occur.

Goalie Scott Wedgewood who had played really well was traded to the Dallas Stars who are really hurting in the net. “Wedgie” was a popular player and he will be missed. The move by Armstrong when all the emotions are removed was brilliant. They picked up Wedgewood on waivers and received a conditional fourth-round pick next year in return. The condition is if the Stars make the playoffs (they’re a single point behind Vegas with four games in hand) the pick turns into a third-round choice.

There’s always the possibility that Wedgewood could return since he will be an unrestricted free agent. He has stated he’d love to come back to Arizona.

The Additions

Nothing really splashy here except that once again Armstrong (aka ‘Bill the Builder’) nabbed two young prospects to add to his rebuild. He obtained and signed center Jack McBain from Boston College. He was not going to sign with the Minnesota Wild, as he saw no future there. Funny how he knew his future could be right here in Arizona where once his ankle injury heals, he will get a shot at playing in the NHL.

The #Yotes signed acquired Jack McBain to 2 year Entry Level deal, starting this year:

21-22: $750K Base, $92.5K Signing Bonus, $82.5K GP Bonus, $70K Minors
22-23: $832.5K Base, $92.5K SB, $850K “A” Perf Bonus, $70K Minors

Cap Hit $883,750, AAV $1.35Mhttps://t.co/xrEzzFfRR4

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) March 21, 2022

McBain will add some size and has offensive side attributes with 19 goals, 14 assists in 24 games at BC. Armstrong gave Minnesota a 2022 second-round pick which the Yotes obtained in the Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade to the Vancouver Canucks. Armstrong’s assessment of McBain: “I’ve watched him since he’s 16 years old so I’ve known him for a long time,” Armstrong said of McBain. “He can play center, he played wing for the Canadian Olympic team, but he is big and he plays a hard game. That’s something that we loved about him right from the get-go.”

More Moves

Armstrong wasn’t done yet. He went on to acquire Minnesota State forward Nathan Smith from the Winnipeg Jets, along with the contract of injured forward Bryan Little, in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick. That still leaves the Yotes with three valuable first round picks and four second rounders to continue the rebuild.

Prospects expert, Chris Peters says this of Nate Smith.

Nathan Smith, reportedly part of the return for Arizona in taking on Bryan Little’s contract, is a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist and U.S. Olympian, has gone from being a high-end skill player to an all-around center with skill. Tremendous development year over year. 49 pts in 34 GP

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) March 21, 2022

So not one but TWO good potential prospects are headed to Arizona simply because they’d rather play there. What was that about players not liking the idea of playing in a 5,000 seat arena?

In another move, with Wedgewood gone, Armstrong knew he needed another goalie. In a crafty move, he outdid Kyle Dubas the GM in Toronto. The Coyotes claimed Finnish goalie Harri Säteri off waivers from Toronto, one day after the Maple Leafs signed him to a one-year, one-way deal worth $750,000. Due to his signing from the KHL’s Novosibirsk Sibir, Sateri was required to clear waivers before joining the Leafs. Guess Dubas thought nobody would claim Säteri.

What are his credentials? He led Finland to the gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing, going 5-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .962 save percentage. Now that’s a good move.

Moves That Didn’t Materialize

While Chychrun was in the top five on any trade list, the offers Armstrong was seeing weren’t to his liking. He held all the cards in any deal since Chychrun did not need to be traded. Armstrong was receiving calls on the defenseman and doing his job attempting to improve his roster. It wasn’t meant to be. If teams are still interested this summer (and you best believe they will be) the talks will again begin. One thing about Armstrong is he sticks to his guns. If a deal doesn’t meet his criteria, he passes on it knowing that things can and will change.

Phil Kessel has wanted to be moved to a Cup contender pretty much all season. His cap hit of $6.8 million was not to the liking of interested parties. Even though Kessel just became a Dad recently, he still wanted that taste of hoisting the Cup one more time. He will be a free agent this summer and will have a chance to do just that.

Arizona Coyotes Trade Deadline Review

While nothing major happened, it still goes without saying that the Coyotes have a boatload of draft picks to look forward to this summer. The goal remains to draft a terrific center by the name of Shane Wright. With just 20 games remaining in the season, the excitement of adding a player of Wright’s capabilities is as hot as a Phoenix summer day.

Bill Armstrong can be proud. He has a plan and he is implementing it.

Better days are on the way Coyotes fans!