Arizona Coyotes Claim Kevin Connauton Off Of Waivers From Columbus
The Arizona Coyotes claimed defenseman Kevin Connauton off the waiver wire from the Colombus Blue Jackets on Wednesday morning.
The Arizona Coyotes have claimed defenseman Kevin Connauton off of waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He had appeared in 27 games in the 2015-16 for the Blue Jackets prior to being waived, a move that was likely made because of the Seth Jones acquisition overflowing their roster with defenseman in the wake of the Ryan Johansen deal with the Nashville Predators.
The Arizona Coyotes’ press release for Connauton:
"The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Connauton has recorded 1-7-8 and 21 penalty minutes (PIM) in 27 games this season with the Blue Jackets. In 2014-15, the Edmonton, Alberta native registered 9-12-21 in 62 games split between the Dallas Stars and the Blue Jackets.The 25-year-old Connauton has collected 11-26-37 and 72 PIM in 187 career NHL games and was originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (83rd overall) in the 2009 Entry Draft."
According to the Edmonton Journal’s Jonathan Willis, Connauton may be a waiver wire gem for general manager Don Maloney.
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"“Kevin Connauton is a good defenceman; one would think too good of a defenceman not to be claimed off waivers. Unlike David Rundblad, he’s signed on the cheap and only for this season; unlike Brandon Gormley he’s delivered offensively in the NHL. He’s going to be a useful player for someone.”"
I like the sound of that.
At first blush, his numbers across the 81 games he played in Columbus seem promising.
He scored 10 goals and had 17 assists for 27 points in that time frame, and as Willis pointed out Connauton did this playing parts of two seasons on a very, very bad Columbus Blue Jackets outfit.
My argument for Connauton would be that at face value he looks to occupy the slot that the Arizona Coyotes originally traded Brandon Gormley to Colorado for Stefan Elliott to occupy. An offensive puck mover on the back end.
The difference? Elliott is a right handed shot and Connauton is a lefty.
The twenty five year old defender is in the last year of a three year, $2.05 million dollar deal that comes with a cap hit of $683,333 this season.
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It seems like a good claim by Maloney, with little risk and some potential for reward. Connauton will wear number 44 for the Coyotes.
The question now is if he slots into the lineup on Thursday night or over the weekend, who sits? Is he just an insurance policy for injury?
Nicklas Grossmann, Klas Dahlbeck, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all shoot left and are stalwarts in the Arizona Coyotes lineup.
Perhaps we’ll find out more on Thursday night against Detroit.