Arizona Coyotes: Alex Tanguay Wins Player Of The Game Belt In Debut
The Arizona Coyotes acquired Alex Tanguay from the Colorado Avalanche in the trade for Mikkel Boedker. Considered a throw-in for salary purposes, Tanguay scored 2 goals and had 1 assist in his Coyotes debut.
Alex Tanguay was arguably the least talked about piece returning to the Arizona Coyotes in the Mikkel Boedker trade.
He was generally considered a throw-in for salary cap considerations despite coming off of a 22 goal, 55 point season a year ago.
He’s 36-years-old replacing a 26-year-old winger who had speed to kill. It’s fair to say expectations were not high for the Tanguay era.
The crazy thing about Tanguay, though, is that he’s one of the most efficient shooters in the entire NHL. He has a career shooting percentage of 18.7%, yet Tanguay is shooting just 11.2% (and that is with last night’s pair of goals boosting his percentage) through this season.
The translation is that Alex Tanguay was due for some goals. He delivered on his first night in the desert and the captain rewarded his effort.
"Go inside our locker room to see who got the game belt! ⬇️https://t.co/hTJDL5vaH6— Yotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 6, 2016"
Tanguay has seven 20 goal seasons in his 16 years in the NHL. That’s not too shabby. He’s also quite respectable at driving play and contributing to one of the biggest areas of need for the Arizona Coyotes’ this season.
Possession.
Alex Tanguay’s possession metrics run circles around Mikkel Boedker’s even though he is a full decade older than the Coyotes’ former winger. His steady hand and playmaking ability may provide a spark to a team that has too often been devoid of one since the end of January.
He’ll certainly be a welcome addition if we can see more action like this goal we saw from the “French Connection” line:
The interplay between all three French-Canadian forwards was beautiful last night. Tanguay and the Arizona Coyotes couldn’t have written a better debut.
Antoine Vermette awoke from the turnover-prone slumber he had been in for the majority of the 2015-16 to score one goal and add three assists. It was easily his best game of the season. Anthony Duclair also chipped in two assists.
In total, the Duclair/Vermette/Tanguay combination contributed 9 points last night against the playoff bound Florida Panthers. That’s a hell of a night.
Next: Tanguay Stars As Coyotes Snap Seven Game Losing Streak
It’s unreasonable to expect Tanguay and company to produce like that every night.
If the new line can keep Vermette going and chip in regularly, however, it will be a huge boost to the Arizona Coyotes’ offensive fortunes.