Fansided

Arizona Coyotes Continue to Shake Up the Roster

By Richard Flores |

It’s not quite the #Yotepocalypse yet…

…but it appears as though Thursday’s shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings was a tipping point. The Coyotes have already made a trade involving a Samuelsson brother on Friday — and in addition to that, they announced several other pretty fun roster moves.

 Gone are David Schelmko (reassigned to AHL) and Kyle Chipchura (placed on waivers), while in are prospects Jordan Martinook and Andrew Campbell. The Official press release follows:

 

“Arizona Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have recalled defenseman Andrew Campbell and forward Jordan Martinook and assigned defenseman David Schlemko to the Portland Pirates, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate (AHL). The 26-year-old Campbell has registered 3-5-8 and a plus-seven rating in 20 games with the Pirates this season. The 6-foot-4, 206-pound native of Caledonia, Ont. leads Portland in plus-minus. Campbell was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round (74th overall) in the 2008 Entry Draft.The 22-year-old Martinook has collected 4-9-13 and eight PIM in 21 games with the Pirates. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound native of Leduc, Alberta ranks third on Portland in scoring. Martinook was originally drafted by the Coyotes in the second round (58th overall) in the 2012 Entry Draft.The 27-year-old Schlemko has totaled 1-3-4 and four PIM in 15 games with the Coyotes this season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta has registered 9-41-50 and 76 PIM in 202 career NHL games. Schlemko originally signed with the Coyotes as a free agent on July 19, 2007.”

 

Not mentioned in the press release is Kyle Chipchura, who was put on waivers Friday. Teams now have 24 hours to claim him before he can be sent  to Portland on reassignment.

 

 Defensemen Andrew Campbell can’t be expected to contribute too much, as the Coyotes are currently waiting for both Brandon Gormley and Connor Murphy to get healthy — once they do, Campbell will likely find himself back in the AHL. There doesn’t seem to be any talks indicating that Chris Summers wouldn’t become the permanent extra defensemen.

 The more interesting move here, however, is the addition of Jordan Martinook to the lineup. As recently as five days ago, Tyler Gaudet seemed to be the frontrunner to get his shot, according to Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona.

“So who’s next? Maloney said center Tyler Gaudet, a responsible two-way player, is close. Gaudet could give the Coyotes a more physical presence in the offensive zone to help their forechecking issues, but it’s difficult to evaluate him with third-line minutes in Portland.”

 Martinook has shown one thing that Gaudet has not this season — the ability to score. Gaudet has six points in 21 games, while Martinook has put up 13 in the same time period. If the Coyotes need anything, it’s scoring — and with the call-up of Martinook over Gaudet, they have to be hoping the the third time’s the charm, as call ups of Lucas Lessio and Brendan Shinnimin were not able to produce an offensive jolt. For those who haven’t seen, the team’s offense has now gone over 170 minutes at home without scoring a goal.

We should get our first look at Martinook and Campbell on Saturday, against the  struggling Boston Bruins, according to Sarah McLellen.

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