Coyotes Are Actively Shopping C Antoine Vermette

By Vinnie Criscenzo | Dec 19, 2014

Nov 14, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Arizona Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette (50) plays the puck against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Rogers Arena. The Arizona Coyotes won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /

The Coyotes are reportedly looking into possible trade options for forward Antoine Vermette.

Antoine Vermette has been has been the subject of trade rumors for the past few months now. He is in the final year of his contract and will become a UFA at the end of this season. Even though the Arizona Coyotes would like to have him back, they don’t believe they will be able to afford the hefty price tag he’ll receive as a UFA.

The Coytoes work with an internal budget, meaning they don’t necessarily spend to the cap limit. They have expressed interest that they want to keep Vermette and hope to work out a deal, but are afraid they won’t be able to sign him. With centers Martin Hanzel and Sam Gagner locked up long-term, and the Coyotes having two very good prospects at center with Max Domi and Henrik Samuelsson, Vermette be more valuable to the team as a bargaining chip.

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Vermette, 32, is currently in the final year of a contract that has a cap hit of $3.75 million. That isn’t a bad cap hit for a team to jump on.

Vermette is one of the better face-off men in the league, currently leading the Coyotes in scoring this season with 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points through 31 games played, and is a great two-way talent averaging about 20 minutes per game. He would be an outstanding third-line center for a Cup contender, and a very good second-line center for a lower seed playoff team.

A very possible destination for Vermette would be the Washington Capitals. They are a bubble team that are desperately looking for a solid center behind Nicklas Backstrom. Arizona has stated that they would want a roster player and a good prospect in return for Vermette. Washington may be a bit gun-shy to give up a prospect though, after the whole Filip Forsberg thing.

It still has yet to be seen if Vermette will even get traded. He very may well just stay in Arizona for the season and then see what his options are come July 1st when free agency opens. We’ll see what happens as it gets closer to the March 2nd trade deadline.

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