Phil Kessel, Darcy Kuemper, and Conor Garland among players the Coyotes could move
It looks like there’s going to be a firesale in the desert this summer.
The Arizona Coyotes are actively working to trade captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Elliotte Friedman said that there are a few more players on the team who could also be moved this off-season…
“I think Ekman-Larsson gets traded, I think Kessel gets traded and then we watch on Garland and Kuemper,” Friedman said on 31 Thoughts: The Podcast.
Ekman-Larsson and the Coyotes moving towards a divorce is well known. He’s two years deep into the eight-year, $66 million contract he signed back in 2018 and wants an opportunity to play on a winning team. Ekman-Larsson has a no-movement clause so he can essentially pick where he wants to go, though his $8,250,000 cap hit means there won’t be many suitors.
@Phil Kessel had a nice bounce-back year for the Coyotes in 2021. In his first year in Arizona, he scored just 38 points in 70 games, but bounced back this season with 20 goals and 43 points in 56 games, leading the team in both categories. Kessel is a free agent at the end of 2021-22 and selling high now makes sense for the Coyotes.
@Darcy Kuemper had an injury-riddled 2021, posting just a .907 save percentage in 27 games. That said, he had a very good showing for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships, which could help boost his value. Like Kessel, he’s just one season from becoming a UFA.
Finally, Friedman also mentioned @Conor Garland, a restricted free agent with two more seasons of team control before he can hit the open market. Garland had a breakout 22-goal season in 2019-20 and scored 39 points in 49 games in 2021. He’s going to command a substantial raise from his previous cap hit of $775,000.
The Coyotes are in need of prospects and draft picks and selling all three of these players would help them recoup those assets.