Arizona Coyotes Michael Stone Looks To Be Paired With OEL
Arizona Coyotes D-man Michael Stone appears he will lineup with OEL as his defensive partner
Since for whatever reason, the management/ownership of the Arizona Coyotes are not in the running for top RIGHT-HANDED fee agent defenseman, Cody Franson to pair up with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, it looks like that honor will fall to Michael Stone. Stone played with OEL last season, and was amazed at his talent, and learned quite a bit about playing defense from the Swede.
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Stone had a decent last season, collecting three goals and 15 assists while performing in 81 games. He almost averaged 22 minutes a game and that tells me that Head Coach Dave Tippett is confident in putting Stoner on the ice in almost any situation. If he teams up with OEL, he will need to do a lot of the dirty work, digging the puck out, or keeping it in at the point.
OEL has some awesome offensive talent, and Stone needs to get him the puck whenever feasible. We all know that OEL became the go-to guy last season, and he led the team in scoring, so he is an offensive threat that needs to utilized when the occasion arises.
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Stone will be entering into his fifth season with the Arizona Coyotes, with only the last two seasons being full season participation. The first two seasons, he only performed in 53 games, while splitting his time with Arizona and Portland of the AHL.
He’s a solid defenseman, who can be physical, as evidenced by his 60 penalty minutes last year.
Stone was Arizona’s 69th overall draft selection in the 2008 Entry Draft. At 6′ 3″, 210 lbs., he can really be a force on the blue line. He has improved his play quite a bit the last couple seasons, and if he pairs up with OEL on the blue-line, his play will only improve more with each game.
The Arizona Coyotes may still make a move to bring in another right-handed shooting defenseman, but until then it looks the job is his to keep. The team may also put Michalek back there with OEL, but Stone will get a long look to see if the chemistry is there. He’s a bit more experienced than Connor Murphy, whom they tried teaming with OEL, and without good results.
Michael Stone will fill the bill of teaming up with OEL, on an awesome blue-line tandem
Next: Arizona Coyotes: Acquiring Bickell/Signing Franson Vital
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