Don Maloney Begins Change For Arizona Coyotes
It’s no secret that the Arizona Coyotes are struggling this season. It looks like General Manager Don Maloney has seen enough and has begun to make moves to shake up the team. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that Don Maloney had gone into the Coyotes’ locker room after their 3-0 loss to Calgary and “threatened to move players” if they did not change the way they were playing. Maloney had no comment on the alleged meeting and told Fox Sports Arizona’s Craig Morgan, “what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room.” Following two more losses to Calgary and Los Angeles, it seems Maloney is making true on his alleged statements to the players.
It was announced today that the Coyotes traded Rob Klinkhammer and a conditional 5th round pick in the 2016 draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Philip Samuelsson.
So far, Samuelsson has only played in five NHL games with the Penguins in the 2013-14 season. During his brief time in the NHL, Samuelsson went 0-0-0 with a minus one player rating. During his time in the AHL this season, he’s posted four assists and four points in 22 games. Samuelsson won’t be counted on for his offense though. He is developing into more of a stay at home defenseman. Think of him as a Zbynek Michalek type player, very defensive minded focusing on stopping the other team from getting opportunities and taking shots. The Coyotes really need more of this type of play this season, so, this move makes a lot of sense.
That wasn’t the only move to be made today, though. Only minutes after the trade was announced, the Coyotes also announced that David Schlemko had been assigned to the AHL and that the team recalled defenseman Andrew Campbell and forward Jordan Martinook.
Andrew Campbell currently leads the Portland Pirates in plus-minus player ratings, as he is currently holding a plus seven. In 20 games with Portland, Campbell has three goals, five assists and eight points. Jordan Martinook is ranked 3rd on the Pirates for scoring. He has four goals, nine assists and 13 points through 21 games this season.
Don Maloney still wasn’t done shaking up the roster. Kyle Chipchura was waived by Arizona. If he isn’t picked up by a team, he will be sent to the Portland Pirates. Chipchura is coming off of his best year statistically last season, but has struggled to find that form for this season. Today’s move comes after he had a rather less than stellar performance against the Los Angeles Kings.
Maloney’s purposed “youth movement” is gaining steam. This will most likely not be the end of the roster shake up, it is a good start though. Arizona has not played well this season and that won’t change overnight. There is a high probability that the rest of this season could become a sort of rebuilding year. The Coyotes don’t need to start from scratch, they have a good core of veteran players and a very good prospect pool, a combination that has the potential to make for a very good team down the road. The downside, is that the prospects will need time to adjust and grow in order to become competent NHL players. Right now, it seems the Coyotes are hesitant to give the prospects long looks in the NHL unless they have instant success. That is where the “rebuilding” aspect may come into play for the Coyotes this season. Arizona has a bright future in terms of their prospects, but they must be given more than a couple of games to grow, learn and adjust to the high skill level of the NHL.
Only time will tell what Don Maloney and the rest of the front office have in mind for the future of the on ice product in Arizona.