Arizona Coyotes Assign Lucas Lessio To AHL

The Arizona Coyotes and General Manager Don Maloney announced today that Lucas Lessio has been assigned to the Coyotes’ American Hockey League affiliate the Portland Pirates.

Lessio played in only three games with Arizona this year. He didn’t play very well and was unable to pick up any points. He only totaled two penalty minutes. When he was recalled, he was tied for the team lead in goals and third in points for Portland. Unfortunately, that wasn’t able to carry over to the NHL.

No corresponding move was made, which could indicate that Brandon Gormley or David Moss may be returning from injury soon. There has been no official word on that, though.

David Moss has been out since October with an upper body injury. There was no word on the amount time he would miss. It was only reported that he would be out long-term. Before he was injured he had one assist, one point and was a -4 in six games played. Moss wasn’t contributing much on offense, but he did have five hits and six blocked shots.

Brandon Gormley has been out since last Sunday’s game against Edmonton with a lower body injury. There was also no definite time table for his return, just that he would be out at least a week. It’s been just over a week since the injury and if it wasn’t serious, he could be on his way back to the lineup. Brandon Gormley had one goal and one point in six games played before he was sidelined with an injury. Gormley was playing very well on defense and it looked as if he and the organization had finally made progress in his development.

The return of either player should help the team. Moss won’t light up the score board but he isn’t afraid to block shots, work hard in board battles on the forecheck and kill penalties. The team is also playing much better defense than earlier in the year and the return of Brandon Gormley will only strengthen that defense.