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The Arizona Coyotes have had a rough stretch lately. They are 4-7-4 in their last fifteen games and have struggled to maintain a playoff spot. That hasn’t shaken fans though, and they are still expected to be buyers at the trade deadline.
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Arizona has already made a big trade this season with the acquisition of Taylor Hall for Nate Schnarr, Nick Merkley, Kevin Bahl, a 2020 conditional first-round pick, and a 2021 conditional third-round pick. Thanks to that trade the Coyotes have no cap space at this time.
A persistent rumor this season has been that the Coyotes will be looking to flip Hall. Polled fans don’t appear to be buying into this idea, which is good because it doesn’t seem like the plan especially with owner Alex Meruelo meeting with Hall’s agent Darren Ferris recently for dinner.
The crux of trade Hall argument seems to be that if the Coyotes miss the playoff they will have paid big to acquire Hall and get nothing for it. The team is deep in the playoff hunt though, and with last night’s win over the Washington Capitals, they are only three points behind the first team in the Pacific. Even if they don’t win the division a Wild Card spot is still very much in play.
Despite the cap crunch the Coyotes are still going to be looking to improve going into the trade deadline. Any trade is going to necessitate sending players back and if you are interested Craig Morgan recently did a great breakdown of which players are available. The team is deep in the hunt for a playoff spot and with the team’s recent offensive struggles it’s clear that the makeup isn’t perfect.
With the tight cap situation, the fact team already has made a big acquisition, and the fact that the team is still in the playoff race they aren’t likely to be traditional “buyers” or “sellers”. Unless a big player becomes available it’s far more likely that the Coyotes will just sit patiently at this year’s deadline.
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