Report card grades for all 31 NHL teams at the trade deadline

Arizona Coyotes: D

John Chayka and the Arizona Coyotes continue to struggle year after year. In the past, the Coyotes have taken on contracts to help teams or been the extra team in a three-team trade to get the deal through. This year was a little different, as the Coyotes didn’t take on any bad contracts. Instead, they addressed some of the issues they had in net.

The Coyotes traded with the Los Angeles Kings to add goalie Darcy Kuemper while shipping out forward Tobias Rieder and goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Darcy Kuemper was immediately given a two-year contract extension when he arrived in Arizona. Kuemper improves the backup position for the Coyotes, behind Antti Raanta. The Coyotes also added a depth piece to their pipeline in Jordan Maletta from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Maletta has spent most of his young professional career in the AHL, and Chayka will be hoping that the fresh start gets to boost his career and get him to the next level.

The Coyotes did nothing to hurt their team in the long term, but they got such a low grade because they did not seem to do anything to make it better, either. The Coyotes could’ve moved a few of their upcoming free agents to stockpile more picks. Instead, they went player-for-player. It is hard to tell what Chayka’s vision is for the team right now. If Arizona wanted to continue to add picks, it could’ve moved on from defenseman Luke Schenn or Kevin Connauton. Prior to the deadline, there were rumors of Max Domi being shopped. Domi would bring in a nice haul of assets. What appears to be a lack of a plan and trades with no major impact on the team earn the Coyotes a D.