An Idea for a Trade

Team: 2016-17 Arizona Coyotes

Initial Creation Date: Aug. 25, 2016

Published: Aug. 25, 2016

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Some underlying assumptions with which to start:

1) Dave Bolland is definitely going on LTIR.

2) Tobias Rieder re-signs.
His agent wants, on a 2-year deal, $2.75M, whereas the Coyotes are pushing for closer to $2.2M to $2.3M. I'm personally inclined to say his worth is closer to the team's ask, so I said $2.4M as a compromise.

3) Dylan Strome and Nick Merkley play in the CHL, and every other AHL-eligible prospect starts with the Roadrunners.
Look, I know people are saying that Strome's too good for the OHL (they're sure saying that about Mitch Marner, too) and that he should be in the NHL next year. His point totals certainly appear to back that up. However, the hole in the Coyotes' roster created by the Vermette buyout is at 2C, and rushing a prospect into the NHL and starting him at 2C is playing with fire. Playing center in the NHL has a lot of responsibilities attached to it, and having to handle those duties while being matched up against top competition (as head coaches are wont to do with 2nd lines) seems like quite a burden for a player with zero NHL experience. This applies to the other prospects as well (Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini, Ryan MacInnis, Conor Garland, etc.). Even Auston Matthews is starting on the 3rd line, per Mike Babcock. Everyone said Max Domi was ready to start in the NHL 2 seasons ago, and he likely benefited from not being rushed to the big leagues. Kyle Turris is a pretty good cautionary tale of what happens when you try to rush prospects into the NHL too early.

Now, the Coyotes don't have very good options to replace Antoine Vermette at 2C. Brad Richardson and Ryan White are the only established NHL centers available; White shouldn't be playing 2C, and Richardson could but probably shouldn't over the course of an entire season. Tyler Gaudet seems to be tabbed as Boyd Gordon's heir apparent on the 4th line, and Laurent Dauphin has all of 8 games of NHL experience. Sooooo where does one find a center that can competently play 2C and fill in for Martin Hanzal when he inevitably misses ~15 games to injury over the course of the season?

Well, the Maple Leafs happen to have a center that doesn't have a set spot on the roster: Peter Holland. There's not really a place for him at center: Nazem Kadri's 1C, Tyler Bozak's probably 2C, Matthews is 3C, and Brooks Laich is 4C. Left wing is also similarly jammed: James van Riemsdyk, Leo Komarov, Joffrey Lupul (in theory), Milan Michálek, Colin Greening, Matt Martin, and Josh Leivo all play LW. Holland's underlying stats suggests that he drives offense fairly well. He could be an option at 2C that could fill in occasionally for Hanzal on the 1st line. Plus, he's familiar with the Western Conference, having started his career with the Ducks.

Of course, you have to give to get. The Coyotes have many defenders signed to one-way contracts. Michael Stone's one-year deal and Luke Schenn's signing indicated to me that John Chayka was opening up possible trade routes for himself. The Maple Leafs also have many defenders signed, but their right side generally seems to lack a top-4 defender (unless Morgan Rielly plays on his off-hand again). Roman Polák's not a top-4 defender. Nikita Zaitsev could be one right now, but no one knows for sure. Connor Carrick and Frank Corrado could be top-4 defenders, but they're still fairly young. Stone would be an immediate upgrade and probably a better partner for Rielly than anyone on the roster that's not named Jake Gardiner. To balance out the number of defenders as well as the cap hits, I retained half salary on Stone and included Corrado in the trade. Holland's $1.3M + Corrado's $600K = $1.9M, only a shade lower than Stone's $2M, so the Maple Leafs gain only $100K in salary. I didn't really bandy about with picks, though. Ostensibly, one or two would be included, though from which side, I'm not sure.

Now, this isn't a bulletproof scenario and does leave several issues to be resolved.
1) Can Holland actually play 2C minutes on a consistent basis? He could, but I don't know for sure.
2) The Maple Leafs' roster does look better with Stone on it, as a whole.
Rielly - Stone
Gardiner - Carrick
Marinčin - Polák / Zaitsev, once Polák leaves at the trade deadline for picks (you know he will)
Hunwick
Stone likes to shoot the puck, and having a relatively defensively-responsible defender in Rielly should give him freedom to contribute offensively. However, he only did alright with Oliver Ekman-Larsson as his partner and is likely better-suited as a 2nd-pair defender, so it might not be a long-term solution. Gardiner - Carrick looked good but only during a small window, so it's an avenue to explore. Zaitsev could also easily displace Carrick. It's still not an ideal defense, but Stone is mostly a known quantity at this point.
3) The Coyotes' defense really takes a hit with the drop from Stone to Corrado. However, I think that Corrado only sort of secured a spot on the Maple Leafs' defense last year, and he might still get relegated to 7th defender this coming season, which isn't good for his development. Giving him a secure spot alongside Alex Goligoski and a mentor from whom to learn how to be an NHL defender would, I think, help him grow as a player.
Also, Schenn's signing signals that the Coyotes want to lessen Zbyněk Michálek's burden. He leads all active skaters in career blocked shots (Nick Schultz has the 2nd-highest total and is more than 60 behind him), and only Dan Girardi has more blocked shots at even strength. His body has insane amounts of miles on it, so he'd probably appreciate the reduced workload.