5 free agents the Coyotes should consider this offseason
By Nick McAdam
Optimistic expectations for the Arizona Coyotes hindered what the reality really was this past season. However, some moves in the offseason can restore some hope for the Yotes in the future.
Finishing third from last on the NHL table maybe wasn’t the ideal scenario for John Chayka and the Arizona Coyotes. Acquisitions such as Derek Stepan, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Richard Panik and even Antti Raanta made up for a good portion of what supporters witnessed in the lineup this past season.
What all of those names have in common is that they were all brought in through trade. The Coyotes lost some prospects in Anthony DeAngelo, Connor Murphy, Anthony Duclair and some future draft picks.
Maybe it wasn’t that bad considering what the Yotes brought in. There are several other aspects to an NHL offseason however, including free agency, which wasn’t exactly a strong point for Chayka and Arizona heading into this year’s campaign.
Sure, Arizona did shed a lot of dead weight contracts to make room for other free agents and quite possibly, the trades mentioned above. Yet, Arizona didn’t exactly bring in the cream of the crop with players such as Zac Rinaldo and Adam Clendening arriving to the desert. Clendening played five games this year, while Rinaldo scored five goals and two assists in 53 contests.
It’s a new chance for the Coyotes to dip back into the free agent market with the playoffs almost coming to a close. Over 250 players are currently listed as a UFA for July 1st. Five of the players on that list should stick out to the Coyotes, and here they are.