Unpacking the Arizona Coyotes’ trade for Marian Hossa
By Nick McAdam
A recent trade involving the Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks saw a host of players going back and fourth, with Marian Hossa being the big-name player.
In the trade, the Arizona Coyotes received Hossa, Jordan Oesterle, Vinne Hinostroza and a combination of third and fifth round picks that will apply to the 2019 NHL Draft. On the flip side of the coin, the Chicago Blackhawks received Marcus Kruger, Jordan Malleta, Andrew Campbell and MacKenzie Entwistle.
On the surface, it looks to be a big exchange with not a ton of value involved. Without going in depth, it really was an exchange of dead contracts and potential lineup players for both clubs.
However, all trades have a winner and a loser. It’s time to unpack this recent trade between the two Western Conference teams to see who walked away with the bigger grin.
The first, and probably the most appealing name on the list is Hossa. It’s a shame that the forward will likely not play again, because the Coyotes could have used his veteran presence while adding depth to their lacking wing core.
Hossa was diagnosed with a skin condition that kept him out of the entire 2017-18 season. According to ESPN, it’s very likely that the winger will be hanging up the skates as a result.
"Hossa’s contract has a $5.275 million cap hit for the next three seasons, but the 39-year-old didn’t play last season and has said he is likely done in the NHL due to a skin condition.The Blackhawks asked Hossa if he was comfortable with the trade after he helped lead the franchise to three Stanley Cup titles."
Thus, the only meaning to adding Hossa to the trade revolves around his contract. Arizona has been known to acquire dead-weight contracts to meet the minimum NHL cap requirements, and Chicago likely knew that entering negotiations.
Regardless of the fact that the 39-year-old makes $5.275 million per year, an arrangement of sources are confirming that the Coyotes will only pay a fraction of that. The thought revolves around insurance of a long-term injured player.
In further detail, this means that the $5 million will go against the Coyotes cap for the next three years either way. This is also combined with David Bolland’s $5.5 million cap hit, but his contract is set to expire after the upcoming NHL season.
Arizona still has $10 million left to spend, so it’s not really the biggest deal at the moment. Once Bolland’s contract sheds, the space left before Hossa’s acquisition will come back. It’s an awkward scenario to unpack, but Chicago definitely won this portion of the deal without looking at any of the other moves.
To switch gears, the two draft picks are a really nice bonus for the Yotes. Late round picks are becoming very crucial to today’s game, and there were even a lot of gems in this past cycle. It’s all about how Arizona uses them, however, so time will only tell as to how much value will be in those picks.
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Now comes the duo of Oesterle and Hinostroza, who are actually the key portions of the trade when digging deep.
To start with Oestrele, he’s mainly been used as seventh defenseman within the Hawks lineup especially last season. The 26-year-old amassed five goals and ten assists in 55 games. All of his possession numbers were perfect considering the style of hockey that Chicago tries to play; all of his stats finished just a touch above the league average.
From the eye, Oestrele looks to be a good skater that can hold the puck in the offensive zone. The American cycles the puck at a manageable level and can also use his big body to fit right in to a lower defensive role.
The downside is that he surely won’t see as much ice time depending on what is done to the Yotes’ defensive lineup. This could take a toll on the amount of warming up, per say, that Oestrele will need to start fitting in with an NHL tempo.
Hinestroza, on the other hand, is a big win for the Coyotes wing depth. Arizona isn’t packing much throughout their entire organization on the wing, so adding every bit of potential in that area really helps.
The 24-year-old was starting to fit right into the Blackhawks depth lines as he totaled seven goals and 18 assists in an impressive 50 games. Obviously, if the Chicago native played a full season, those numbers could have gone up.
The Coyotes are adding a lot of speed to their offense which might fit the scheme of what Rick Tocchet is going for in the upcoming season. The addition of Michael Grabner combined with Clayton Keller, Alex Galchenyuk and Hinostroza will add a ton of tempo to Arizona’s game.
The American has the potential to move up and down the lineup as well. The depth of the Hawks offensively kept him on the lower lines, but his pace, versatility and cool shot can see him sky rocket up the Yotes’ line chart.
Hinostroza makes up for the loss of Entwhistle, who played a more big-bodied game with plays especially towards the front of the net. On the same note, Arizona is probably looking for Barrett Hayton to fill that role anyways while also filling the need at center. Losing Entwhistle seems haunting on the surface, but the Coyotes will potentially have more than enough to fill his void.
To finalize the deal, Maletta must have been a straight swap for Oestrele, both of whom have a similar potential of being a seventh defenseman. Losing Campbell — another seventh defenseman at the age of 30 — isn’t really going to affect the Yotes both right now and long term. It was simply a part of the deal that saw Arizona lose a contract for a player that didn’t have much of an impact on the franchise regardless.
Kruger heading back to Chicago means that Jon Chayka is going to put more trust into Brad Richardson. The 33-year-old center should be a decent time gap player to allow Hayton and other prospects time to develop as his contract is set to expire in a couple of years. Last season, Richardson amassed three goals and 12 assists, but other offensive acquisitions will hopefully provide a spark to his game for the next season.
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Overall, it’s not a trade to get too positive or negative about. The Yotes gathered some more cap to reach the minimum floor while gathering a couple of prospects and depth needs. At the same time, they still have a lot of money to spend for more players either this offseason or the one’s ahead.
The trade probably falls more in the Blackhawks favor, however, as they released a heavy contract while landing a player in Kruger that has proven that he can play in Chicago’s system.
It doesn’t mean the Coyotes lost by a landslide. Again, it’s a deal that has its advantages and disadvantages, but more time will be needed to assess the value especially in terms of the picks and prospects sent to the desert.
What are your overall thoughts on the exchange between the Coyotes and the Blackhawks? Is there a clear winner of the trade? Let us know in the comments section below.