The Arizona Coyotes have had a few not-so-great seasons, the current one included. They have a few talented players on their team, but it is just not working for them. Now that the Coyotes have found a home, they will be working on putting together a team that will get them back into the competition. Bill Armstrong, general manager for the Coyotes, will have to evaluate what the team needs and balance that out with what teams are willing to offer for players. He has a long road ahead of him, but the trade deadline would be a great place to start.
Make sure to check out all of our other NHL Trade Deadline Previews.
Current Status
Current Record: 16-35-4
Division Standings: Eighth in the Central
Buyers or Sellers: Sellers
Phil Kessel
Kessel, who has six goals and 28 assists in 55 games, had mentioned in the offseason that he wanted to be traded. He would make a good addition to any team’s bottom-six despite not being an elite goalscorer anymore. However, he comes with a cap hit of $6.8 million, so either he will need to go to a team with cap space, or Arizona might have to retain part of his salary. This summer, Kessel will be an unrestricted free agent, so the Coyotes will need to re-sign him or see what they can get for him in a trade.
Jakob Chychrun
The rumor mill has quite a few teams interested in the 23-year-old defenseman. Chychrun is a big-minute, puck-moving defenseman, with three goals and 13 assists in 44 games this season. He has a $4.6 million cap, and his no-trade clause does not kick in until the 2023-24 season. The issue with teams trading for Chychrun will be what Arizona wants in return. The Coyotes know what they have in the defenseman, and essentially they can ask whatever they want and see if a team will go for it. There’s no downside is no one trades for him because Arizona will then keep a player with a high upside.
Christian Fischer
Fischer has been with the Coyotes organization since being drafted, but he has not turned into what they had hoped for in a top-six forward. He currently has a cap of $1 million and becomes a restricted free agent this summer. His offensive numbers have been down since his rookie season, but there’s still time to turn it around. A change of scenery might do Fischer some good, a new team and a new line might help him find his game. There is a lot of potential that is still untapped with Fischer; he would be a great bottom-six winger and penalty killer for any team.
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