Arizona Coyotes Trade: Sean Durzi For 2024 Second Rounder

It didn’t take long for the Arizona Coyotes trade news to take effect. Today, GM Bill Armstrong pulled off a trade with the Los Angeles Kings to acquire young defenseman Sean Durzi. The Kings in return, received one of the four second-round picks the Yotes had accumulated for 2024.

Arizona Coyotes Trade 2nd Round Pick For Defenseman Sean Durzi

Sean Durzi is the type of player who can grow with the Coyotes' core, given his age and skill set.
The Coyotes will give up a 2024 second-round pick in exchange; the one they got from Montréal. https://t.co/JimRnjO4qx

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— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) June 24, 2023

We all knew that Bill Armstrong was saving all those draft picks for a rainy day… well, even though it hardly rains in Arizona (especially in June), he took one from his collection today. Adding a young (24) D-man like Durzi is a definite plus for the Coyotes. They now have three left-shooting defensemen and three right-shooting blueliners going into next season.

Durzi has 136 NHL games under his belt. He has tallied 12 goals and 53 assists with an average of 19:42 minutes of ice time. He is effective on the power play with three goals and 28 assists. Durzi contributed 263 blocks and 142 hits while with the Kings. He isn’t afraid to drop the gloves as displayed by his 105 penalty minutes. In 13 playoff games, he added two goals, two assists.

Sean Durzi, traded to ARI, is a youngish offensive defenceman and powerplay specialist. Played 2nd pair minutes this year, didn't go as well. #Yotes pic.twitter.com/ksCievc0Sn

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 24, 2023

The Plan to Stay Young is Being Initiated

Bill Armstrong still has $8.4 million he must spend to get to the cap floor. He will more than likely try to keep adding young players with a blend of veterans to lead the way. We know as of right now (things could change by Wednesday) that he will add a couple of young prospects when he selects at the #6, and #12 spot in the NHL draft June 28th-29th. Durzi became expendable with the Kings wanting to promote Brandt Clarke and/or Jordan Spence who have both excelled in the AHL.

With the mountain of draft picks still at the Yotes disposal, staying young will not be an issue… in fact, they may have TOO many picks to even draft and sign realistically. Thus, the trade for draft picks will continue.

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Salary Cap Considerations

This also inflated the Kings cap space up to just over $9 million. Durzi was earning $1.7 million and will be a restricted free agent after the 2023-24 season. That will give them more space to improve their roster further. Will they make a run for Pierre-Luc Dubois? We’ll see. Teams are always looking to improve and to do that they need cap space to make it happen. When it comes to cap space, the Coyotes are still rolling in it with $30.2 million at their disposal. While they surely won’t spend to the limit, they look to improve over last season’s standings, which were better than expected.

How Durzi Helps the Coyotes

He is an offensive defenseman and after trading away both Jakob Chychrun and Shayne Gostisbehere, that role is needing some reinforcement. Durzi can do that. He does need to work more on his defense, but overall this is a good move for the Coyotes. They may not be overpowering on the blueline, but his addition is a plus. Look for him to fit right in, and head coach André Tourigny has displayed excellent patience with his young players. Durzi has a heck of a shot from the blueline too.