Senators Trade Rumors: Top Six Forwards
By Ryan Ritchie
Oct 24, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Arizona Coyotes left wing
(89) skates with the puck in front of Ottawa Senators defenseman
(5) in the first period at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
10. Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are playing remarkably well, exceeding expectations early into 2015-16. This is still a team built for the future, with a wealth of offensive talent in the prospect pool. The same can’t be said for their defense and goaltending, which is thin.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the lone star on the back-end, although young Michael Stone is beginning to solidify himself on the Yotes roster.
There’s still players such as Connor Murphy, Klas Dahlbeck, and Stefan Elliott that are all young with potential. Then we’ve got a couple of veterans in Zbynek Michalek and Niklas Grossmann. The Coyotes could afford to add another body or two on the back-end.
Main Target: Mikkel Boedker
Boedker will become a restricted free-agent at the end of 2015-16, and will likely see a slight pay raise. While Arizona would likely be open to extending him, it’s more conceivable that he could be dealt.
The center of the Coyotes future lies within Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and Dylan Strome. Along with those three, Arizona needs to make room for Martin Hanzal and Tobias Rieder. That leaves one more for the top six between Brandon Perlini, Christian Dvorak (who outscored Domi on the same team in junior), Nick Merkley, or Laurent Dauphin. Plain and simple, Arizona can afford to save that money from Boedker for future stars.
Trade Scenarios:
Ottawa trades Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, 2nd/or 3rd round pick to Arizona for Mikkel Boedker
Ottawa trades Cody Ceci and Colin Greening for Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Copobianco (or similar type prospect)
The only reason Arizona makes our list is because they’re in a position of strength with their offense. But the Coyotes cannot feel comfortable with their defensive group moving forward. This is a team that had a shot at Noah Hanifin in this past draft, and passed.
Arizona could potentially be interested in G Andrew Hammond as well, having no young goaltenders with starter potential in the system. Other targets could include Martin Hanzal and Tobias Rieder up front for Ottawa. But, any deal for Arizona would likely need to include one of Cody Ceci or Jared Cowen.
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