The PuckJunkie Weblog  

22 Aug '05 - + 131 - 171 How to Manage a Cap - the Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes have a remarkable amount of cap room for a team with not only a full roster, but one with depth and some high-talent names.  Some players, namely Nagy and Doan, will eventually wind up costing a significant amount more.  But for next season, this team is in great shape to make any moves they feel the need to make during the season.  They're one of those teams that is in a position to not only be a contender but to make that big acquisition at the end of the year - something that could be a difference-maker come April.

Many may be deceived by the lack of moves reported since the free-agent bonanza started.  Don't be.  This is a completely different team than the one that took the ice for the majority of '03-'04, or even the roster they finished with.  The Coyotes made a number of moves at or near the trade deadline in 2004 and several more before the lockout began.  While Los Angeles may have been the Pacific Division team that made the biggest splash this summer, Phoenix has made the biggest changes since last year.

The overhaul of the Coyotes roster began when Phoenix started making trades last February.  Even discounting the trades during last season, they Coyotes made some major changes last offseason before the lockout.  Right now, they're looking at a complete roster with a few stars, good depth, and lots of cap room.  It's hard to argue with the improvement this team has shown since the end of '03-'04, when they finished last in the Pacific.

The losses & acquisitions listed below don't include the trades made before the end of the previous season.  Perhaps they should; neither Derek Morris (acquired for Chris Gratton and Ossi Vaananen) nor Mike Comrie (acquired for Sean Burke and Ivan Radivojevic) had a chance to make much of an impact with this team after they were added.

Major Losses 

• Daymond Langkow, center. A good #2 center worth 50-60 points per season, Langkow was traded for Saprykin and Gauthier before the lockout began.
  
• Jan Hrdina, center. A good defensive forward, possibly a bit weak offensively, the Coyotes let Hrdina be snatched up as a free agent by Columbus this offseason.
  
• Brian Savage, LW. A solid third-line winger that was well overpaid under the new CBA, Savage was bought out by the Coyotes and remains a free agent.
  

Acquisitions

• Brett Hull, right wing. Hull was picked up in the 2004 offseason.  Although 41 years old, he remains a dangerous sniper from the slot.
  
• Mike Ricci, center. Also signed in the 2004 offseason, Ricci is a solid 2-way center that the Sharks will miss tremendously.
  
• Curtis Joseph, goaltender. Just when everyone was saying goaltending was still the problem in Phoenix, the Coyotes signed CuJo.  He'll get every chance to prove he was wrongfully maligned after his playoff ousting two years running in Detroit.
• Petr Nedved, center/left wing. A talented but sometimes streaky scorer, Nedved was signed as a free agent in the 2004 offseason.
• Sean O'Donnell, defenseman. A stand-up defenseman with a mean streak, also signed as a free agent in the 2004 offseason.
• Mike Leclerc, left wing. Anaheim let Phoenix take Leclerc for a conditional draft pick as cap relief.  Leclerc is a solid checking winger.
• Denis Gauthier, defenseman. Phoenix took Gauthier, a defensively-minded blueliner, as part of the package for Langkow.
• Oleg Saprykin, left wing. Saprykin is the other half of the package Phoenix got for Langkow.  He's a mid-level second line winger.
  

Things to watch

• Curtis Joseph. If Joseph bounces back to have a great year, this could be a dangerous team.
• The Great One. Who knows if the greatest player in history can coach as well as he could play?  It will be interesting to find out.
• The surprise factor. It won't last all through the season, but right now most people seem to be dimissing the Coyotes.  Overlooking the changes they made last offseason is easy to do, especially with so many other teams making big-name acquisitions in the last month - but if opposing teams do it they'll be in for a surprise come game night.
  

The Verdict

This team is clearly a vast improvement over the team Phoenix fans saw for the beginning of '03-'04.  They've got a great young core of players in Nagy, Doan, Mara, Johnson, Morris, and Tanabe, and a nice stable of veterans in Nedved, Hull, Ricci, and Joseph.  Unlike many of their division rivals, they're not just filling out the forward lines with minimum-value players or rushed prospects.  And they've done it all for under $32 million.

Whether that improvement is enough to win the Pacific remains to be seen.  They had a long way to go to be a contender, and by all appearances they've done that.  Regardless of the divisional crown, this team should be playoff-bound this season.

The Roster

Forwards
Petr Nedved, C, $2.204
Mike Comrie, C, $1.748
Mike Ricci, C, $1.52
Boyd Devereuax, C, $0.57
Michael Rupp, C, $0.57
Ladislav Nagy, LW, $1.976
Oleg Saprykin, LW, $1.064
Tyson Nash, LW, $0.608
Mike Leclerc, LW/RW, $1.14
Shane Doan, RW, $3.002
Brett Hull, RW, $1.69
Mike Johnson, RW, $1.672
Fredrik Sjostrom, RW/LW, $0.817

Defense
Derek Morris, D, $2.66
Paul Mara, D, $1.75
Sean O'Donnell, D, $1.748
Denis Gauthier, D, $1.33
Cale Hulse, D, $1.14
Dave Tanabe, D, $0.95
Matthew Spiller, D, $0.722
Brad Ference, D, $0.6

Goal
Curtis Joseph, G, $0.9
Brian Boucher, G, $0.9