Time for a Trade: Who Should the Arizona Coyotes move?
Antoine Vermette
Oct 23, 2014; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Arizona Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette (50) carries the puck past Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise (11) during the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
My surprise offer for the trading block is Antoine Vermette. If the Coyotes can trade him for a high-scoring player who might just not be a good fit for his team, they should try to do so. It’s really one of the only ways Don Maloney and Dave Tippett are going to get significant dividends off him; unless they’re willing to settle for a few prospects and a high draft pick, it’ll be hard to move this center.
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Why should they move him? It’s simple — he’s not putting in the kind of effort night after night that the fans are looking for. During the loss to the Dallas Stars, there were a couple moments where he just kind of floated around on the ice — and the team was down by two goals!
He’s an inconsistent player on an inconsistent franchise, and he’s a pending free agent; quite a few teams would be willing to take the gamble on him for negotiation rights alone. He’s also quite a bit cheaper than Keith Yandle, so you could see a couple of the tighter cap teams willing to swap him for someone who’s costing them, in their opinion, more than he’s worth.
The biggest two teams that come to mind for this trade in particular are the Maple Leafs (see a theme? The Leafs are probably willing to make a trade with just about anyone right now) and the Boston Bruins.
From the Leafs, you’d most likely get the same guys you would in the Yandle trade, simply because Vermette has been playing in a defensive system for quite some time now and could bring something to that franchise. The Bruins, though, would most likely try to swap him for a pricier player in order to squeeze just a few more bucks into their salary space come the trade deadline. Brad Marchand has a modified no-trade clause; if he was willing, the team could try to switch things up by sending him packing for a player with more size (and maturity). They could also swap out Loui Eriksson, who has yet to prove that he’s got the physical stature the Bruins rely on.
Of course, Eriksson might not be quite what the Coyotes are looking for, either; with Vermette, they might simply have to take what they can get.