Team: 2020-21 Arizona Coyotes

Initial Creation Date: Apr. 3, 2021

Published: Apr. 3, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

The players shown are all of the significant players eligible for the expansion draft. UFAs plus Hossa, thus those whom Arizona doesn't have to protect, are in the IR list, with the exception of Lyubushkin and Oesterle (more in a moment). Notable players exempt from the expansion draft are shown on the Taxi Squad.

I expect Arizona to protect the top 6 forwards shown, plus one of Fischer, Larsson or Pitlick. The Coyotes will have more than the minimum of two qualified forwards to make available to Seattle.

The interesting question is the defense. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun are eligible, qualified, and will be protected. Capobianco and Gross are eligible but don't qualify. As a result, (a) I think Arizona will have to re-sign Lyubushkin or Oesterle before the expansion draft, or acquire a qualifying defenseman via trade or waivers, and (b) I think Arizona is in the market for a qualifying, protectible quality young defenseman. So I've made a list of potential targets from teams that might make these players available rather than expose them to Seattle for nothing. I think it's fun to ponder which of these players Arizona might want, which players their teams might trade, and what the trade would look like. (Obviously, contending teams would be interested in Arizona's rental players only if the trade were made as soon as possible.) All of them are shown on the LTIR list.

I've tried to suggest only those players I think would have a long-term future with the Coyotes.

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