GLENDALE, Ariz – Another Trade Deadline Day has come and gone. There is always an air of anticipation surrounding it. In Canada, it’s practically considered a national holiday. Many people sit glued to their computer screens, anxiously awaiting any news of last-minute deals that can give their team that extra boost they need for a deep playoff run, or maybe bring them the pieces they need to rebuild their team for a stronger future. For this reason, nearly everybody has some motivation to follow the proceedings with great hope in their hearts. For fans of teams on the bubble, it could be the first indication of whether a team still has hope for this season or intends to tear down the current team to make way for the rebuilding process.
Coyotes fans are all too familiar with the latter scenario. They saw a flurry of deadline deals that sent Keith Yandle, Antoine Vermette, and Zbynek Michalek out of town in exchange for a bunch of players that most had never heard of before. Some of them have been instrumental in this season’s rebuilding process. Some of them may yet find their way to the Valley of the Sun. Some have already moved on. In any case, Coyotes fans hoped that this year would be much different. After seeing their team gutted last season, they would have rightfully expected this year’s team to be much better. Their record at last year’s trade deadline was 20-36-7. This year, they entered the post-deadline period with a record of 26-30-6. They currently sit in 11th place in the Western Conference, 10 points out of the last playoff spot in the West (with three teams to catch). They’re a little better off than they were at this time last year, but not significantly so. They currently sit in a grey area in between the playoffs and the race for the first overall draft pick and Auston Matthews. While I think Coyotes fans would be thrilled to have Matthews on their team, few of them would have expected to be in competition for that #1 Pick again this year.
Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney made it clear going into the deadline that the Coyotes had not given up on this season and would not repeat last year’s dismantling of the current team. Given the team’s current place in the standings, it also seems unlikely that they’d spend drastically on a short-term rental for a big run this season. One would expect a cautious approach to this year’s trade deadline.
It started off simply enough. On Saturday, the team claimed 23-year-old forward Jiri Sekac off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks. Sekac is nothing to write home about, a 6’1”, 185 lb. Czech who has totaled 27 points in 97 NHL games. But, for a free pickup he’s not half bad. He’s probably better than somebody on the current roster, so that represents immediate improvement.
Next, the team traded minor-league forward Matthias Plachta and a conditional 7th round draft pick in 2017 for Sergei Plotnikov. Plotnikov, a 25-year old Russian, played six seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League before coming to the NHL this season. The 6’2”, 202 lb. forward notched 2 points in 36 games with the Penguins this season. Plachta had managed 7 points in 46 AHL games this season with the Springfield Falcons. Plotnikov has joined the Coyotes for the time being. If he’s going to stay, another current Coyote will have to be moved to make room on the roster.
The big deal of the day was the one that everybody was expecting. With the inability of the team and his agent to come to an agreement on a contract extension, it seemed inevitable that Mikkel Boedker would be traded at the deadline. It was all but a foregone conclusion. His play had become maddeningly streaky. The inevitable finally came to pass on Monday as Boedker was shipped off to Colorado in exchange for Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay and two young prospects, forward Connor Bleackley and defenseman Kyle Wood.
On the surface, this might not seem like a good return for the Coyotes. Tanguay is 36 years old, compared to Boedker’s 26 years. Boedker has scored 39 points in 62 games compared to Tanguay’s 22 points in 52 games. Despite Boedker’s struggles this season, his numbers are much better than Tanguay’s. I think Tanguay’s biggest upside is his experience. He has played on numerous winning teams and won a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2001, scoring the Cup-winning goal in Game 7 against the New Jersey Devils. His numbers are down this year, but he can fill the net. He has recorded 50 points or more 9 times in his 16 NHL seasons, including 55 points just last year. His offensive peak came in 2006-07 when he notched a point a game (81 points in 81 games). Boedker, on the other hand, has only broken the 50-point barrier once in his six seasons (51 points in 2013-14, though he is on a pace to eclipse that this season). If this deal was simply Tanguay for Boedker, I’d call it a push…especially if Tanguay can rebound and put up a couple more seasons like last year. If Bleackley and/or Wood amount to anything down the road, that’s just gravy.
The Coyotes made a couple of other moves, swapping minor-leaguers. All told, they didn’t add anybody that is going to spark a run to the playoffs this season. But, at the same time, they didn’t give away anything significant in the short term, and managed to add pieces that may pay off down the road. They essentially are saying that they have all the pieces they need to compete, just maybe not right now.
This year’s crop of rookies has performed admirably and are only going to get better with age and experience. The trio of Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and Tobias Rieder give Coyotes fans hope for the future…a future that will soon include Dylan Strome and Nick Merkley, among others. But they need to strike quickly. Captain Shane Doan is only human. He’s going to retire someday in the not-too-distant future. Even Captain Coyote can’t play forever.
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