Vegas Golden Knights Mock Expansion Draft Roundtable
Arizona Coyotes
| Available | Age | 17/18 | Automatically Exempt |
| F Shane Doan | 40 | UFA | F Dylan Strome |
| F Jamie McGinn | 28 | $3.33M | F Lawson Crouse |
| F Martin Hanzal | 29 | UFA | F Max Domi |
| F Tobias Rieder | 23 | $2.25M | F Laurent Dauphin |
| F Brad Richardson | 31 | $2.083M | F Christian Dvorak |
| F Radim Vrbata | 35 | UFA | F Michael Bunting |
| F Ryan White | 28 | UFA | F Dakota Mermis |
| F Anthony Duclair | 21 | RFA | F Conor Garland |
| F Jordan Martinook | 24 | RFA | F Ryan MacInnis |
| F Craig Cunningham | 25 | RFA | F Christian Fischer |
| F Tyler Gaudet | 22 | RFA | F Brendan Perlini |
| F Chris Mueller | 30 | UFA | F Nick Merkley |
| F Garret Ross | 24 | RFA | F Lane Pederson |
| F Peter Holland | 25 | RFA | |
| F Matia Marcantuoni | 22 | RFA | |
| F Henrik Samuelsson | 22 | RFA | D Jakob Chychrun |
| D Dysin Mayo | |||
| D Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 25 | $5.5M | D Kyle Wood |
| D Alex Goligoski (NMC) | 31 | $5.475M | D Anthony DeAngelo |
| D Connor Murphy | 23 | $3.85M | D Jalen Smereck |
| D Michael Stone | 26 | UFA | |
| D Luke Schenn | 26 | $1.25M | G Adin Hill |
| D Kevin Connauton | 26 | $1.0M | |
| D Zbynek Michalek | 33 | UFA | |
| D Jamie McBain | 28 | UFA | |
| D Jarred Tinordi | 23 | RFA | |
| D Justin Hache | 22 | RFA | |
| G Mike Smith | 34 | $5.66M | |
| G Louis Domingue | 24 | $1.05M | |
| G Justin Peters | 29 | UFA | |
| G Marek Langhamer | 21 | RFA |
| Ryan | Matt | Suraj |
| 4F – 4D – 1G | 4F – 4D – 1G | 4F- 4D – 1G |
| F Martin Hanzal | F Martin Hanzal | F Tobias Rieder |
| F Tobias Rieder | F Tobias Rieder | F Anthony Duclair |
| F Anthony Duclair | F Radim Vrbata | F Jamie McGinn |
| F Jordan Martinook | F Anthony Duclair | F Henrik Samuelsson |
| D Alex Goligoski (NMC) | D Alex Goligoski (NMC) | D Oliver Ekman-Larsson |
| D Oliver Ekman-Larsson | D Oliver Ekman-Larsson | D Alex Goligoski (NMC) |
| D Connor Murphy | D Connor Murphy | D Connor Murphy |
| D Michael Stone | D Michael Stone | D Michael Stone |
| G Louis Domingue | G Louis Domingue | G Louis Domingue |
Due to a relatively young forward group, many of the Coyotes top players are automatically exempt. That’s good news for a team that may need to protect more than three defensemen. That could, however, change if Arizona decides to trade pending unrestricted free agent Michael Stone.
I’m assuming Arizona seeks to retain Martin Hanzal long-term (due to become a UFA next summer). That leaves room for three more forwards. Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair are locks, but that fourth slot is wide open. We’ve gone with Jordan Martinook, but GM John Chayka might be inclined to protect Jamie McGinn or Henrik Samuelsson instead. Looking at the blue line/goaltending, those spots are virtual locks with the current occupants.
As you can tell, we all tend to agree that Arizona is wise to use a 4-4-1 scheme in order to protect all of their defenders. The only real spot of debate is that final forward slot. I’ve chosen the early hot hand in Jordan Martinook. Matt thinks it would be wise to re-sign Radim Vrbata. And Suraj favors a top prospect. Long story short, the Yotes have options with that last slot. – Ryan Ritchie