NHL Trade Rumors: Arizona Coyotes Targeting Auston Matthews

NHL Trade Rumors: Reports Suggest Arizona Coyotes are Targeting Toronto Maple Leafs 1st Overall Pick for Rights to Draft Hometown Kid Auston Matthews

Latest NHL trade rumors are linking the Arizona Coyotes to the Toronto Maple Leafs 1st overall pick.

Not surprising, we actually wrote an article last month on how the Yotes must at least make an attempt, whether successful or not.

Per reliable source: Arizona already pushing hard to acquire No. 1 pick overall & bring Auston Matthews home to play for Coyotes. #NHLDraft
— MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) June 9, 2016

More from Arizona Coyotes

There’s no guarantees that Toronto is willing to part with the 1st overall selection, but then again, who knows when the next kid from Scottsdale, Arizona emerges as a top prospect in the NHL.

As a player, we think we know who Auston Matthews is and what he projects to be (although it can be a dangerous game), he has the makings of a complete two-way no.1 center.

It’s more about just the player though, it’s a marketing gold-mine. What better way to sell the product in the Desert than to feature a homegrown talent that can be looked up to by a younger generation of fans. It’s about more than selling tickets in Arizona – it’s about selling the game of hockey.

According to same source, Coyotes would trade their 2 1st rd picks + either Max Domi or Christian Dvorak for right to draft Auston Matthews
— MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) June 9, 2016

Sounds a little more like your opening offer that gets immediately shut down and countered. Obviously, a 7th and 20th overall pick plus one of Dvorak or Domi is not enough to get a deal done – it might even make for a good laugh between Lou and Shanny.

But according to same source, no indication at this point that #Leafs would accept offer from #Coyotes or anyone. Could change though.
— MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) June 9, 2016

It would take one of those “too good to refuse” offers to make this happen. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

Regardless, lets put on our genie hat and speculate as to what is the max figure that Arizona can possibly pay to acquire Auston Matthews. It doesn’t mean Toronto will bite, but they can certainly do better than the proposition above.

NHL Trade Rumors: Coyotes Max Offer?

note: no reason to give speculation regarding Oliver Ekman-Larsson‘s name, as due to past reports, we know OEL is off the table in trade discussions – for obvious reasons.

Arizona Trades 2016 7th Overall Pick, 20th Overall Pick, 2017 Conditional 1st Round Pick (Lottery Protected – Becomes 2018 if Yotes Miss Playoffs), (1) of Max Domi/Dylan Strome/or Christian Dvorak, (1) of Nick Merkley, Christian Fischer, Conor Garland, Brendan Perlini

Arizona Trades 2016 7th Overall Pick, 20th Overall Pick, (1) of Max Domi/Dylan Strome/or Christian Dvorak, (1) of Tobias Rieder, Michael Stone, or Connor Murphy

Arizona Trades 2016 7th Overall Pick, 20th Overall Pick, (1) of Max Domi/Dylan Strome/or Christian Dvorak, (2) of Nick Merkley, Christian Fischer, Conor Garland, Brendan Perlini, Ryan MacInnis, Kyle Copobianco, Kyle Wood, Laurent Dauphin, or Maxim Letunov

From a Coyotes standpoint, the above teeters at the most they might be willing to give up in an offer. Anymore given up, the Yotes would be overpaying and could potentially hurt the franchise long-term.

Next: Trade Scenarios for 8 Teams at the NHL Draft

So, what do you think Leafs fans? Are any of those above combinations relatively close to anything you’d consider fair? Is there any realistic chance that Toronto would be willing to give up their only first overall selection since Wendel Clark? Or, is Arizona’s quest to acquire Auston Matthews nothing more than a pipe-dream? Let us know what you think.

Home/Arizona Coyotes