Is Brandon Gormley Headed Out Of Arizona?

Brandon Gormley heads back to Portland, we hope it’s for rehab

#Coyotes announce that they've assigned Gormley to Portland.
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) December 17, 2014

This is maybe the only time in my entire life that I’ve hoped someone is headed for rehab.

By reassigning Brandon Gormley to the Portland Pirates, three things could be in play here:

Gormley needs some more conditioning after being out for so long, so they’ve sent him down to get some play in while he gets healthy. If it’s a conditioning stint, he should be there for a few games then re-join the team. In the meantime, the Coyotes can recall some healthier players during the interim where he’s well enough to play, but not well enough to take back over on the ice in these do-or-die games Arizona keeps playing.
David Schlemko is being given a chance to prove himself for a little bit longer — the CBA is kinda hazy about players that are reassigned on waivers and then called back up, but he could have re-earned his spot on the team for now.
Brandon Gormley knows that he’s not going to get the minutes he had been hoping for, and he’s made a similar request to the one he made earlier in the season — play him, or trade him. Once he’s healthy, he’s a decent, young, exciting defenseman — we’d hate to see him go, but the Coyotes could look to move him out of necessity.

I’m hoping it’s the first option personally, but one thing is certainly clear… Gormley is almost back, and the team has things planned for his pending return.

(Maybe these things will involve wins. I just don’t know.)

As a refresher, Gormley has been on injured reserve since November 18th with a lower-body injury.

Brandon Gormley heads back to Portland, we hope it’s for rehab

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