Arizona Coyotes: Z and Vermette Return

Z and Vermette’s Return, Marks A New Dawn

Day one of free agency is in the books! And boy have the Arizona Coyotes been busy; signing a total of five free agents so far. For me, two names have really stuck out, and they are the shot blocking machine Zbynek Michalek, and none other than Antoine Vermette. Every Coyote fan remembers the busy trade deadline five months ago that saw the departure of Michalek and Vermette. Now they are back, both signed to the team for two years.

Jun 15, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Antoine Vermette in game six of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Vermette’s possible return has been speculated since after he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. He was to be a UFA at the end of the year, and it was well-known Chicago did not have the cap space to resign him. But, no one predicted how important he would become to the Blackhawks post season battle. After not scoring a goal for them all season long, Vermette managed to score four of them in the post season, three of tem being game winners.

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He also was a dominate force in the face-off circle, winning 58.9% of all his face-off’s, ranking him higher than Jonathan Toews. His performance in the playoffs meant many teams were looking to acquire his services, but in the end Arizona walked away with him. This shocked many fans around the league, thinking a big name team or a playoff contender would sign him.

Apr 24, 2015 Zbynek Michalek will return to Arizona after a short stay in St.Louis. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

My favorite signing of the afternoon however was none other than Zbynek Michalek, a grizzled veteran of the blue line. We all saw Z’s trade coming from a mile away when the Coyotes announced they were in a rebuild mode. What I didn’t see coming, however was him resigning with the Coyotes. He is up there in age, playing for a playoff contender who had the ability to resign him. If not St. Louis, I thought Ottawa for sure would try to lure Michalek. Ottawa could use his defensive skill, and Z could have been interested playing with his brother Milan.

However, Zbynek decided to return to the desert, adding a much-needed veteran presence to Arizona’s defensive corps. Michalek seems to go under the radar a lot. He is not a flashy player known for his offense or skating ability. But with his shot blocking ability, and defensive intelligence, it makes him the perfect ice to Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s fire. He is also a brilliant penalty-killer, and knows how to do the little things which help a team to win.

The Arizona Coyotes have taken a big step forward today in their rebuild, and are looking to fix their horrid goals against numbers. They may not have signed an all star goal scorer, or offensive minded player so far, but they made the smart choice. They are repairing their ships hull before they look at firing back, building a foundation and skeleton to the rebuild before they add bells and whistles.

They have also made a great environment for the prospects to play and learn from, surrounding them with players who have been in the league for a long time. For the first time in a long time, the future is starting to look bright for the Arizona Coyotes.

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