Arizona Coyotes: An Outlook On The Forwards
By Alex Temes
Known as the ‘French Connection’ Line because every one of these guys hails from Quebec, this trio of Arizona Coyotes has been the most productive line since the acquisition of Alex Tanguay.
Flanked with wingers Anthony Duclair and Alex Tanguay, centerman Antoine Vermette‘s line has been productive since they were conglomerated together after the trade deadline. The team, at the time, was experiencing offensive stagnation and had fallen far out of the playoff picture and nearly into draft lottery territory.
This line brought the team back to life. The immediate chemistry that developed between these three has staying power.
Together, they’ve created a huge amount of offense that the team had been lacking for most of January and February. Vermette, since the deadline, has 12 points in 15 games while Tanguay and Duclair have respectively accrued 11 and 10 points in that same time period. In fact, over the same quantity of games before the deadline using Mikkel Boedker as the comparison for Tanguay, those three roster spots had produced only 4 (Vermette), 5 (Boedker) and 9 (Duclair) respective points.
Moreover, when comparing the output of Tanguay in Arizona against Boedker in Colorado, the change of scenery positively impacted both players as Boedker has put out the same amount of points as Tanguay since being traded to the Avs. And those totals were before taken the game against St. Louis, where Duclair and Tanguay produced yet again.
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Looking towards the future, Duclair is currently finishing up his second year of his three year Entry-Level Contract, or ELC, and is an essential cornerstone to this team’s bright future. I would not expect to see him leave the team anytime soon unless he’s traded in some misguided attempt to secure the 1st overall pick for Auston Matthews or General Manager Don Maloney fumbles Duclair’s contract like he did in the Kyle Turris incident (we should all seriously hope that there is not a repeat of that magnitude ever again).
Moving on to Tanguay’s contract situation, he’s scheduled to hit free agency after the conclusion of this season. However based on his offensive output and strong, veteran leadership on a team with a increasingly visible youth movement, I would expect him to get a one, maybe two year contract in order to bridge the team into the future without forcing the young prospects to be shoved onto an NHL stage. Heck, if he does stick around, I would not be surprised if he were awarded an ‘A’ should Shane Doan retire and Oliver Ekman-Larsson ascend to the captaincy.
Vermette is under contract until the end of next season. So, for the near future, you can expect #50 to continue anchoring the power play and top-6 center slots.
But after next year, I would not be as certain that Vermette continues to be an Arizona Coyotes. With the intense depth down the middle in terms of prospects and younger players beginning to mature, it’s difficult to envision Vermy staying too much longer. The only way I see Vermette staying with Arizona beyond next season is if he takes a pay cut and moves to a bottom 6 line combination or switches out to a winger position.
Next: Second Line Forwards