Coyotes 2017-18 (With Detailed Explanation)

Wild need to get rid of Pommer's contract and protection slot more than getting rid of him as a player. I really don't see them trading away any of their everyday players during the season. I don't see Pommer accepting a trade to AZ either.

He's an excellent 3rd liner and with the Wild's FWD depth they can afford to play him there and on the PK. Parise has been on the 3rd line recently with Pommer too.

Vrbata would be a great 4th line depth pickup for the Wild. But he'd have to be cheap to get. Doan also falls into that category.

- I would be interested in Mark McNeill over Luc Snuggerud. The Coyotes are sorta thin at RW, and McNeill would get his shot at the NHL that he hasn't seemed to have gotten with the Blackhawks, so he'd probably be easier to acquire. The Coyotes are also set at LD with Ekman-Larsson, Goligoski, and Chychrun.
- Vrbata really seems to like playing in Arizona, and, on top of his point production, the younger players seem to like him a lot and look to him for leadership. With the sheer amount of prospects coming down the line, older players like Hanzal, Vrbata, McGinn, Richardson, and Goligoski will be important for pointing the Coyotes' youngsters in the right direction, and it may serve them better in the long haul to retain Vrbata's services. Plus, good luck in convincing Pominville to include Arizona in his modified NTC.
- If some trade deadline-addled GM is willing to overpay for Stone's services, I would go right ahead and ship him off. That would give Kyle Wood a chance to see if he's got what it takes to play in the NHL (they already know DeAngelo does, but he needs to work on his maturity issues for now). With Wood and DeAngelo in the fold and looking like they're too good for the AHL, that makes Stone ultimately expendable.
- The Coyotes' scouting staff was unanimous in voting to pick up Burmistrov off of waivers, and Tippett has put his confidence in Burmistrov, which has shown in his goal and 6 points in 8 games with the Coyotes and substantial power play and general ice time. I think they protect him and let Peter Holland go to Vegas so that they get to keep their conditional 2018 6th.
- I think the Coyotes are still pretty optimistic about Duclair's talent level and would probably give him a proper bridge deal. I don't really think Tippett is getting fired, either; yeah, the team's not doing great, but I think they're already looking ahead to the future and the big picture instead of just this season. Plus, he's head of hockey operations now. This is his team.

Overall, everyone around here seems rather fond of Maslow's hammer. Collecting picks en masse is nice and all, but I don't think that shipping out every single player on an expiring contract for picks would fulfill all of the goals of Coyotes management.