The Arizona Coyotes have the flexibility to sell more than just Jakob Chychrun after adding Shea Weber’s contract
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli spoke at length about the potential ramifications of the Arizona Coyotes acquiring Shea Weber’s contract from the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week.
The Coyotes traded AHL defenseman Dysin Mayo to the Golden Knights on Wednesday in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and the final four years of Weber’s deal, which carries a $7.857 million annual cap hit but will see the 37-year-old defenseman paid only $1 million annually between 2023–24 and 2025–26.
Weber, of course, hasn’t played NHL hockey since 2021. But as Seravalli explained on Friday, acquiring his contract will help the Coyotes stay above the salary cap floor if they find suitors for more than just Jakob Chychrun — such as Nick Schmaltz (pictured) or Lawson Crouse — leading up to the Mar. 3 trade deadline.
Frank Seravalli: Here’s the thing with the Coyotes that I want to point out that I don’t think has been talked about enough to this point in the trade deadline period. Watch the move that they made earlier this week acquiring Shea Weber’s contract. That, to me, signals that the Coyotes are up to way more than just Jakob Chychrun.
Lawson Crouse has been on our Trade Targets board, he has term on his contract. He’s actually in the first year of his deal. Shayne Gostisbehere, of course, is a rental that could go. Nick Bjugstad, a rental that could go. Karel Vejmela, a goalie with term, one of the premier goalies that’s available.
But I want to highlight Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse, in particular. Why does that matter? Why does getting Shea Weber’s contract matter? The reason for that is if the Coyotes wanted to trade Jakob Chychrun, they still have plenty of room [over] the salary cap floor without Shea Weber’s deal. But if they want to trade someone else at the deadline, whether it’s Crouse or Schmaltz, they wouldn’t have had the flexibility to be above the cap floor without first acquiring that. Could they take another contract back in a deal? Of course they could, to help get them there. But this alleviates any of that pressure — and it didn’t cost them any real money. It’s basically a wash between Dysin Mayo and the money that Shea Weber is owed on his deal, just $1 million per moving forward. A nice little piece of business for the Coyotes because it helps them artificially get to that floor if they decide that someone wants to step up and pay the price for someone like Crouse. Schmaltz will be added to our next Trade Targets board on DailyFaceoff.com.
Watch the full episode here: