The Arizona Coyotes traded for Russian winger Sergei Plotnikov from the Pittsburgh Penguins. They gave up forward Matthias Plachta and a conditional seventh round pick in the deal.
The Arizona Coyotes made their first deadline day trade. No, it wasn’t Mikkel Boedker.
It wasn’t even a trade of Martin Hanzal, a potential move which has been picking up steam since Sunday afternoon.
The Coyotes traded AHL prospect Matthias Plachta and a conditional seventh round selection to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Sergei Plotnikov. They were certainly not the names hockey insiders expected to be called first this morning.
The move puts the Arizona Coyotes over the 23-player roster limit so that implies there will be more movement on deadline day.
Here is the Arizona Coyotes’ press release:
"Arizona Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have acquired forward Sergei Plotnikov from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Matthias Plachta and a conditional seventh round draft choice in the 2017 Entry Draft. The 25-year-old Plotnikov has registered 0-2-2 and 20 penalty minutes (PIM) in 32 games with the Penguins this season. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound native of Komsomolsk, Russia recorded 15-21-36 and 71 PIM in 56 games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) in 2014-15. Plachta totaled 2-5-7 and 16 PIM in 46 games with the Springfield Falcons (AHL) this season."
Sergei Plotnikov is a strong possession forward who was unable to find his scoring touch on a Pittsburgh Penguins team that was very goal-averse early on in the season. As the Pens struggled under former head coach Mike Johnston, Plotnikov’s possession numbers were one of the few bright spots.
Unfortunately for Plotnikov, the arrival of former Coyotes player Mike Sullivan as the new head coach mid-season saw a major change in Plotnikov’s playing time.
After apparently expressing an interest in returning to Russia, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford told Pittsburgh radio station 97.3 The Fan that, “That didn’t go over too well with the coach because he wants people here that are all in, they want to be here at all costs. That hurt him a little bit with the coach.”
If Plotnikov does have an interest in returning to Russia, that would explain the Pittsburgh Penguins strong desire to trade the player who was healthy scratched for 19 straight games.
According to General Fanager, Plotnikov is on a two-way deal at a salary of $925,000 which expires at the end of the season. He’ll be a restricted free agent at that point, so general manager Don Maloney and head coach Dave Tippett can decide what they wish to do with the Russian winger.
If he fits and wants to stay, perhaps they can re-sign him to a favorable deal. If not, they can let him walk with no repercussions.
Plotnikov looks to slot into the bottom six – likely the fourth line – and will bring some much needed ability to keep the puck on his stick in both zones. For a team that gives up more than 30 shots per game and is the second worst in the league at generating shots of their own, Plotnikov will be a welcome addition despite his lack of scoring.
The trade of Plachta for Plotnikov is no huge deal for the Arizona Coyotes. Plachta had just two goals and five assists in 46 games in his first year in the AHL after signing with the Coyotes from Germany.
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This trade is very much general manager Don Maloney taking a flyer on the potential of Sergei Plotnikov and the ability of his head coach Dave Tippett to get the most of his players.
That’s what he does and the kind of moves the Arizona Coyotes have to make so it’s a smart gamble.
Perhaps it will pay off.