Arizona Coyotes Place Antoine Vermette On Waivers
In a surprising move, Arizona Coyotes General Manager John Chayka has placed veteran forward Antoine Vermette on waivers.
John Chayka’s offseason remake of the Arizona Coyotes continues, with Antoine Vermette being the latest name to be moving to a new location.
Chayka and company attempted to find a trade suitor for Vermette but were unable, so the team put the veteran center on unconditional waivers Monday.
The move appears to free up yet another roster spot for one of the team’s promising young prospects to skate with the big club in 2016-17.
For better or worse, Vermette’s fairy tale return to the desert never quite got going.
Vermette was prone to the blind pass and ill-timed turnover in 2015-16, and never really found any traction offensively until the Arizona Coyotes acquired Alex Tanguay.
He finished the season with 17 goals and 21 assists, yet scored 7 goals and contributed 7 assists in his final 17 games.
If Vermette could have summoned that furious offensive onslaught while the Coyotes were still in contention, perhaps we’re not hearing this news today.
John Chayka was straight to the point when speaking about Vermette’s buyout.
“In order to give our team more flexibility, we needed to make this difficult decision,” said Chayka. “This move will provide an opportunity for some of our young, talented players to step up. Antoine is a class act and we thank him for all he did on and off the ice for the Arizona Coyotes organization. We wish him the best in the future.”
Clearly John Chayka and Dave Tippett are thinking that some of these youngsters are ready for the NHL.
The question is who?
Prior to the Vermette buyout, the Arizona Coyotes had roster spots which could have tentatively been earmarked for both Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak provided one of those names played on the wing.
Now there are two empty center positions available, however, and a slot on the wing.
Could Brendan Perlini or Christian Fischer move up as well? What about Tyler Gaudet filling in for Boyd Gordon on the fourth line, much as he did last season?
The buyout has added some additional intrigue to next month’s training camp for several youngsters.
Outside of Strome and Dvorak, no other prospects seem like even a 50% guarantee to make the team out of camp as we sit currently.
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Does that mean the third spot could be filled by a veteran acquired in a trade? Only John Chayka and Head Coach Dave Tippett know the answer to that.
It’s going to be an interesting end to the summer.