Arizona Coyotes: Martin Erat is BACK (and better than ever?)
It’s been difficult to find too many bright spots so far in the Coyotes’ young season.
Goaltending has been and still is an issue, defense has been uncharacteristically poor… and yet, Boedker and Erat have done well offensively. OEL has been spot on with two game winning goals in overtime. The team is far from playoff-ready, but credit must be given where credit is most certainly due…
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I’m going to focus on Martin Erat here.
Martin Erat was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night, March 4th, right near the 2014 trade deadline- along with John Mitchell- in exchange for Chris Brown, Rostislav Klesla and a fourth round pick.
At the time I heard about the trade, I knew Erat was a good player, but his numbers didn’t boast that. Giving up a good young prospect like Chris Brown was evidence of how much the Coyotes thought of Erat, but I wasn’t the only fan that was unconvinced.
Unfortunately, Erat didn’t produce right off the bat, getting just 5 goals and 5 assists in 25 games with Phoenix and confirming many fans’ suspicions. In fact, he only tallied 27 points in 67 combined games with Washington/Phoenix in the 13-14 season. I still think if he had produced double those stats, the Coyotes would have made the playoffs.
"“The reason we acquired Marty is because his style of skill can fit into how we have to play, and that’s a hard compete,” GM Don Maloney said. “He’s proven to be a productive offensive player in the past.”"
He is doing just that as we’ve witnessed so far in this very new season.
He has 3 goals and 2 assists in 8 games. He has 10 shots on goal with 3 lighting the lamp… not bad. Erat scored against Edmonton, Nashville (whom he spent 11 years with), and most recently got a nifty semi-wraparound goal against Tampa Bay.
He’s been on several line combinations, which is a Dave Tippett thing where he tries out players until they ‘click’ as a line. I am hopeful that he can erase the goal production the Coyotes lost when Radim Vrbata decided to take the money and run to Vancouver. (No one can really blame him, considering what he’s worth, but it still hurt)
Erat is a seasoned veteran who seems to have shaken whatever his issues were last season, and has been a pleasant surprise thus far. Let’s hope that he can keep it up, and can contribute to the Phoenix franchise forthright… that would be SWEET ! !
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