21 Comments
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Shad's avatar

In my eyes unless a 1st round pick and/or a very good C prospect is coming back, there's really no reason to trade Dvo. Even if the team is like 4 years away from competing, every young team could use a veteran C to guide the young kids, especially one on such a good contract that isn't going to hamstring you at any point in the future.

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Todd York's avatar

I did not realize it was this bad until you put it down on paper. You should be distributing anti-depressants with articles like this.

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Craig Morgan's avatar

Ha! azcoyotesinsider.com branching into pharmaceuticals.

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Todd York's avatar

This article made me realize why I don’t trust the “tear down and rebuild through the draft” approach. Too much history not executing on that strategy.

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Craig Morgan's avatar

Yes, but with different people every time. Can't hold this group accountable for what past groups did.

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Todd York's avatar

Good point and your reporting on the scouting department is positive news. It would be nice if the Coyotes just had a little more luck go there way as well!

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Jeff Lane's avatar

Great work Craig, even if very frustrating for all of us. Thanks for including Winnick on your list. He’s the kind of fan favorite whose hard work earned himself quite an NHL career.

I’d like to nominate Jordan Martinook, another Winnick-like player, for the honorable mention list even though he didn’t get a single mention.

Martinook was actually one of the few AZ second-round picks who did make it — and has carved out a nice seven-year career that, health permitting, has a few years remaining as a valuable role player who’s not afraid to stand up for his teammates. How we missed that kind of a team leader this season!

The Yotes have never quite replaced Martinook’s effort and clubhouse leadership when they traded him to Carolina, and he’s been a major behind-the-scenes contributor to the Canes’ success.

I’m sure there are others who also deserved a mention, but Martinook was a personal favorite of mine.

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George Fallar's avatar

Marty Martinook certainly deserves a mention and he's still bouncing around and keeping the energy up in the room.

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David Cosand's avatar

... and then you look at the total number of games played in a Coyotes uniform vs played elsewhere and everything looks even worse

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Craig Morgan's avatar

Yeah, that's a tough one with Wheeler & Briere.

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David Cosand's avatar

Nice to give Dan Winnik some love here though. Always liked that guy.

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Christopher Kozakis's avatar

All I can do when reading this list of lost opportunities is "Cry, Cry Again":

https://youtu.be/NTu6MvetFAE

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Craig Morgan's avatar

Sorry.

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Biers Thraserov's avatar

That pic of former GM Paddock says it all.

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Biers Thraserov's avatar

And Peter Mueller is a frustrating example of organizational disarray. Brought up too soon and then bad luck with injuries. I thought he was talented.

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Craig Morgan's avatar

Definitely.

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Mike's avatar

I went back to 1996 and looked year by year at who we drafted and who was available that we bypassed. After about 5 years I had to stop. Too infuriating.

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Kyle's avatar

In defense of the Briere trade, the Coyotes were able to flip Gratton for Derek Morris the following year and he had a 10 year run with the team. When you consider that Buffalo lost Briere for nothing in 2007 (and still has not recovered) and the Coyotes benefited from the trade until 2014, I think the Coyotes were able to save face on that trade. Same with the Turris trade, they ended up getting the Dvorak pick in exchange for Rundblad from Chicago. The Mike Comrie trades however (both incoming and outgoing) were a disaster from beginning to end.

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Guy Finney's avatar

To quote Dr. Zachary Smith (Lost In Space).... "The pain, the pain."

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Jeff Lane's avatar

Craig, while reporting on the potential new Tempe arena site, don’t forget that the Cardinals’ first stadium site choice was just north of the Salt River at Priest and Washington. The airline pilots’ association shot it down because the football stadium was considered too tall for planes landing at Sky Harbor. This could be another obstacle again — albeit a hockey arena is likely not nearly as tall as a huge stadium.

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Brandon S's avatar

It's impressive you were even able to find 10 players worth mentioning here. Heck, Vegas may have been an easier team to draft a top 10 list for!

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