The Arizona Coyotes announced today that they have assigned forward Christian Thomas to AHL Springfield after he skated last night with the Coyotes in Winnipeg.
The Arizona Coyotes sent Christian Thomas back to their AHL affiliate in Springfield today after the 23 year old made his debut with the Coyotes last night in the 5-2 loss to Winnipeg.
The move is likely as much about getting Thomas playing time during the break as it is to be about anything having to do with his actual play.
Here’s the Coyotes’ press release:
"GLENDALE, ARIZONA – Arizona Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have assigned forward Christian Thomas to the Springfield Falcons, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate (AHL).The 23-year-old Thomas skated in 10:35 with three shots on goal in his one appearance with the team. He has registered 3-4-7 in 15 games with Springfield and has also collected 7-7-14 in 18 games with the St. John’s IceCaps (AHL).Thomas was originally drafted by the Rangers in the second round (40th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and was acquired by the Coyotes in a trade with the Canadiens on December 15, 2015."
Christian Thomas had the unfortunate luck of debuting in one of the Coyotes worst efforts of the season, and despite the lopsided score Thomas skated just 13 shifts on the 4th line with Boyd Gordon and Kyle Chipchura.
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After the Arizona Coyotes went down 5-1 due to Dustin Byfuglien‘s shorthanded goal near the end of the second period, it seemed like Thomas would get a healthy look in the third if for no other reason than the fact that no one else was doing much to earn their playtime.
Instead, the kid only touched the ice for the Coyotes five times in the period, and one of those shifts was just four seconds long. Insofar as Dave Tippett was able or attempting to get a good look at what Thomas could bring, I’d have to say that measurement will need to be made on another night.
There just wasn’t enough there to determine anything, and the team played so poorly from top to bottom that any data pulled is kind of worthless compared to what you might see on a typical game night.
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Sending Christian Thomas back to the Springfield Falcons leaves the Arizona Coyotes with just twenty-two players on the roster yet again heading into the week long All-Star break.
It will be interesting to see if Thomas returns to the fold next week or if another prospect is given the call-up.