The Arizona Coyotes continue to look for more assets to add to their stockpile
Michael Russo of The Athletic: Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong on some of their pending unrestricted free agents like Nick Bjugstad and Shayne Gostisbehere, and what is the next step for them.
“Well, we always look to acquire players that we can move and grab assets, and that’s the whole gameplan for us, whether it’s taking on a bad contract and trying to get that player to his peak and then, moving him and getting more assets. If you look at, in the amount of draft picks we have over the next five years, … it’s crazy.
And we’re still trying to add, and obviously, the cap, they said, will move probably $1 million that could help us out again in our structure and the way that we’re trying to get the big plan done. So it’s coming, and I like where we’re at. And we’ve had some success early on with the Guenther’s and the Mosers already in the draft, so it’s been an exciting time for us.”
Potential blue line targets for the Edmonton Oilers
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: The Edmonton Oilers could be in the trade market for a top-four left-handed defenseman. One potential rental that could be on their radar is Columbus Blue Jackets Vladislav Gavrikov.
The 27-year-old carries a $2.8 million salary cap hit and could be looking for $5 million-plus on his next deal. Comparables could have the acquisition cost at a first- and third-round draft pick.
The Oilers may need to include Jesse Puljujarvi‘s $3 million cap hit, which may cost another asset for the Blue Jackets to take him. Columbus’ GM Jarmo Kekalainen is Finnish like Puljujarvi but he also passed over him in the 2016 draft and selected Pierre-Luc Dubois instead.
It may be better for the Oilers to attempt to acquire someone with term left on their deal as opposed to a rental. Potential candidates are Jakob Chychrun (Arizona), Joel Edmundson (Montreal), Connor Murphy (Chicago) or Jake McCabe (Chicago).