Anaheim Ducks Could Take Advantage of the Arizona Coyotes Draft Woes
The Arizona Coyotes draft woes could open the door for Anaheim Ducks General Manager, Bob Murray to pull off a smart trade.
The National Hockey League has finally brought down the hammer on the Arizona Coyotes for their draft breach of putting junior prospects through physical workouts prior to the draft. They brought down the hammer, HARD. Specifically, the Coyotes will be losing their 2nd round draft selection this season, as well as their 1st round selection in 2021.
Compounding the Coyotes draft woes is the Taylor Hall trade. Should the Coyotes extend Hall in the desert, they will be giving up their 2021 2nd round pick to the New Jersey Devils. If they decide to let Hall go, then they’ll be giving their 2021 3rd round pick away.
For those counting at home, this means that the Coyotes will have only one draft selection in the first three rounds of both the 2020 and 2021 drafts combined. With the flat cap, the Coyotes are also only projected to have ~$1.5 million in salary-cap space prior to extending Hall.
I am not a smart man. However… however… it seems to me that a not particularly good team, with no chance of securing high-end youth and who may lose one of their best players for naught, may just be in the strike zone for a savvy General Manager to take advantage of. Maybe that GM is the Anaheim Ducks, Bob Murray?
Jacob Chychrun Should be on the Anaheim Ducks Radar
Initially, the question should be asked what the Ducks could possibly want to pick from the Coyotes? The following question would be what do they want to give up to get it? In this instance, I believe the Anaheim Ducks should use some leverage to acquire something they don’t have a lot of. That is a young top-4 defenceman. Jacob Chychrun should be on the Ducks radar.
Merely 22-years-of-age, Chychrun is an oft-injured two-way defenceman, who plays with a physical edge and skates with elegance and grace. Currently scoring at 0.34 point per game pace, the 6’2 defenceman is relatively adept at controlling and directing the flow of play. At least to the extent that some pundits have called for him to run the Coyotes power play instead of his higher-profile puck-moving teammate, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
While the Anaheim Ducks do have some younger defensemen on the roster, many of them have not shown themselves to be regular NHL players. Jacob Larsson, Brendan Guhle, and Josh Mahura have all faltered at some stage, while Josh Manson and Cam Fowler are getting older. Acquiring Chychrun to play alongside Hampus Lindholm, could provide the Ducks defense with a solid 1-2 punch on the back end for years to come.
The Coyotes, of course, would not want to part with a young top 4 defenceman, and thus the Anaheim Ducks would have to barter with them in order to pry the young prize away. However, they have the means to do so.