Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson will not waive his NMC

If you have not gotten a subscription to Craig Morgan’s phenomenal Coyotes Insider it is absolutely worth the low cost.

Case in point, in today’s Neutral Zone, Morgan discussed the future of Arizona Coyotes’ defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Per league sources, Hjalmarsson will not waive his no-move clause for the final year of his contract.

Any time a player chooses not to waive their no-movement clause it is important to remember that these clauses tend to be in lieu of financial compensation. Rather than making more money players make the choice to control their destiny.

Hjalmarsson has been an effective defensive defenseman since the Coyotes acquired him in 2017 from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Connor Murphy and center Laurent Dauphin.

New general manager Bill Armstrong is likely going to be looking at moves to make to help build a competitive team for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Hjalmarsson likely would have made for good trade bait, netting the Coyotes picks, prospects, or players.

Perhaps bigger than all of that, trading Hjalmarsson may have given the Coyotes cap space. Hjalmarsson brings with him a $5 million cap hit and the Coyotes currently don’t have much space to make moves.

The Coyotes have a lot of question marks for the upcoming seasons. GM Armstrong has a lot of work to do, a big job is going to be deciding what roster moves can be made.