Arizona Coyotes John Scott Clears Waivers, Leads All-Star Voting
By Adam Pierce
Arizona Coyotes enforcer John Scott clears waivers last week and still leads the entire league in All-Star votes.
The Arizona Coyotes have been making roster moves lately in order to account for injuries and new acquisitions. With the injury to Mike Smith and recent acquisition of Viktor Tikhonov, the Arizona Coyotes needed some roster flexibility.
More From Howlin’ Hockey -> Arizona Coyotes Louis Domingue Records First Career Shutout
More from Coyotes News
- How the Arizona Coyotes could line-up with Logan Cooley signed
- Report: Logan Cooley could be closer to signing Arizona Coyotes ELC
- Arizona Coyotes sign Matias Maccelli to three-year deal
- Ivan Prosvetov signs one-year deal with Arizona Coyotes
- Arizona Coyotes cut Galchenyuk after reported police incident
On December 18, 2015 the Arizona Coyotes decided to place left wing John Scott on waivers. This would not be the first time Scott had hit the waiver line this season with the Coyotes. Scott was waived both on October 8, 2015 and November 8, 2015 as well. As expected, no other teams claimed him and he was cleared off waivers on December 19th.
While waivers are nothing new for John Scott, his third time through would be an instance that the NHL has never seen before. This would be the first time in NHL history that the player leading the All-Star selection voting would be put on waivers.
That’s right, Arizona Coyotes enforcer John Scott is still leading the NHL All-Star race.
John Scott was acquired by the Arizona Coyotes on July 10, 2015 from free agency. He signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the team.
The 6’8″ left wing provides size to the Arizona Coyotes along with tenacity and toughness to protect the younger players. This is Scott’s ninth NHL season. Scott is known for his heavy hits and his ability to drop the gloves.
Next: Arizona Coyotes Prospects Dvorak, Strome Excelling
The interesting thing is that John Scott should not statistically be leading the entire NHL in votes. Scott has only 11 career points (five goals and six assists) in 283 games. This season with the Arizona Coyotes, John Scott has played in only nine games and has recorded just one assist.
Live Feed
Puck Prose
So why are players like Patrick Kane, Tyler Seguin, and Alex Ovechkin taking a backseat to John Scott in fan votes for this event? Comedy is the reason — sarcastic comedy, at that.
When the NHL introduced fan voting, they had to have seen this coming. John Scott is the joke vote of 2016, and will be part of the festivities in Nashville.
Some people are actually upset over that fact, but they really shouldn’t be. If the majority of fans want Scott to play and vote him in to do so; then he should play. There should be absolutely no argument there.
If there are limitations for who the fans are able to vote for, then the league should not even give fans the option. Besides, wouldn’t it be fun to see John Scott glide down the ice in a 3-on-3 game against the league’s best? The had better keep the oxygen ready for him.
More from Howlin' Hockey
- How the Arizona Coyotes could line-up with Logan Cooley signed
- Report: Logan Cooley could be closer to signing Arizona Coyotes ELC
- Arizona Coyotes sign Matias Maccelli to three-year deal
- Ivan Prosvetov signs one-year deal with Arizona Coyotes
- Arizona Coyotes cut Galchenyuk after reported police incident
The Arizona Coyotes are hoping to send more players to the All-Star game along with John Scott. Other names that have a solid chance of making the cut are Max Domi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Domi currently has 10 goals and 15 assists through 32 games. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has seven goals and 13 assists in that same time frame too.
This is how the voting looks as of 12/20/2015:
John Scott: 1st in the NHL and 1st in the Pacific.
Max Domi: 11th in the NHL and 3rd in the Pacific.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson: 55th in the NHL and 13th in the Pacific.
Martin Hanzal: 74th in the NHL and 19th in the Pacific.
Shane Doan: 85th in the NHL and 21st in the Pacific.
Viktor Tikhonov: 136th in the NHL and 35th in the Pacific.
Anthony Duclair: 165th in the NHL and 39th in the Pacific.
Antoine Vermette: 170th in the NHL and 40th in the Pacific.
Mikkel Boedker: 231st in the NHL and 49th in the Pacific.
Let’s keep voting Coyotes fans and send some of these guys to the 2016 NHL All-Star Game!