Yes, the roster has more than 23 people. No, Pavel Datsyuk and Chris Pronger don't technically go on LTIR because it's not like the Coyotes are in danger of hitting the cap ceiling; once they go on regular IR, their roster spots can be replaced. They'll just be at the bottom of the roster and can be disregarded.
As far as re-signing Connor Murphy, Michael Stone, and Tobias Rieder, I made vaguely educated guesses.
- Stone seems like a 2nd-pairing defenseman, so, for term, I was thinking something like Mattias Ekholm's $3.75M/year as a good AAV, or somewhere closer to $4M like Marco Scandella or Jonas Brodin. As far as term, he's a UFA at the end of next season, so his next contract will be buying out largely UFA seasons, driving up the price. $4.25M/year for 4 years takes him to 30 and allows him to cash in later on what will likely be his last big payday of a contract.
- Supposedly, Rieder wants Nazem Kadri money, but he hasn't shown enough to really merit that. Even though he had the highest total TOI of any forward on the Coyotes, I would say a bridge deal of $2.25M/year for 2 years seems reasonable, as his career high in goals and points in the NHL are 14 and 37, respectively. Plus, he *just* came off of his entry-level deal.
- Everyone seems to be pegging Murphy as a future 1st-pairing defenseman, but he's not there yet, so a bridge deal of, say, $1.5M/year for 2 years seems fine. (EDIT: Well, guess he decided to skip the bridge deal. 6 years, $3.85M/year.)
These numbers might be a little higher than expected for a team like the Coyotes, but with Datsyuk's departure to the KHL (meaning the Coyotes don't have to pay the $5.5M of his contract's last year), and Pronger only getting $575K in actual salary, their cap hit doesn't really reflect the salary they're paying out.
Forwards (I did sorta crib this combo of lines from Five for Howling, SB Nation's Coyotes blog)
Line 1: Max Domi and Anthony Duclair put up great possession numbers when they played together last year, and Martin Hanzal helped them drive offense as well. People have talked about trading Hanzal, but the Coyotes are starting to look like a decent team, and they need to keep all of their talented players. Now, if only Hanzal can stay healthy this season...
Line 2: The article at FFH I cribbed these line combos from suggested that Christian Dvorak would get a spot at 2LW. I found it hard to find a spot for Dylan Strome on the roster; the Coyotes already have 3 centers under contract in Hanzal, Antoine Vermette, and Brad Richardson (CapFriendly says he's a RW, but he played at center last season), and it's usually smart to not play rookies at center, anyway, because it's less of a load on them to play at wing.
In particular, I had my eye on 3 prospects: Dvorak, Strome, and Conor Garland, as they all put up pretty gaudy numbers in their respective CHL leagues (100+ points over each of the last 2 seasons, > 1.5 career points/game, > 0.5 career goals/game). Dvorak and Garland are 20 and will play, at the very lowest, in the AHL, but Strome has to go back to the OHL if he doesn't crack the NHL (thanks, stupid transfer agreement). Really, the debate over 2LW boils down to Dvorak and Strome, as Garland plays RW. I have Dvorak there for now, but if Strome has a better showing in training camp, he might get an extended 9-game audition in the NHL to see if he's the real deal or if he has to go back to the OHL for more seasoning.
Other than that, Vermette's clearly 2C until his contract's up at the end of the season. I don't see the point in putting him on the wing in order to cram Strome onto the roster. Rieder spent a lot of time with Vermette last season, so they have some familiarity together.
Line 3: Shane Doan's still surprisingly good at 40, but the carriage might turn back into a pumpkin real fast, so I put him on the 3rd line along with Richardson, as they played together a lot last season. Jamie McGinn seems capable of playing up and down the lineup, but the FFH article mentioned that it's also a good spot to assess how his health is, as he's apparently got a genetic back problem that required surgery a couple of season ago.
Line 4 + Extras: Jordan Martinook and Ryan White seem like standard 4th liners (and, despite what CapFriendly suggests, White played 4RW last year with the Flyers). Tyler Gaudet will probably compete for 4C with Laurent Dauphin, and, given that Gaudet is waiver-eligible now, he'll probably stay on as the 13th forward.
Defense
Wow, did John Chayka sign a lot of defensemen.
Pair 1: I think Stone will have to hold down the 1st pairing with Oliver Ekman-Larsson until Murphy develops more (unless he gets traded).
Pair 2: Alex Goligoski was a really good signing for the Coyotes, and playing him with Murphy will probably aid in the latter's development.
Pair 3 + Extras: This is where it gets messy. Jarred Tinordi and Jamie McBain, being on 2-way deals, are likely headed to Tucson. Even then, there are still 8 defensemen on 1-way deals; someone's gotta go, at this rate. I have Kevin Connauton and Zbyněk Michálek penciled in as the 3rd pair right now, but that could easily be Klas Dahlbeck and Luke Schenn. I see the Schenn signing as one of two things:
a) Michálek gets bought out after Stone signs/goes through arbitration (as the Coyotes have a 2nd buyout window if someone files for arbitration) and Schenn replaces him.
b) Someone gets traded. I can't see the Coyotes carrying 8 defensemen for the entire year, but, if they make it to the trade deadline with 8, they can always foist Michálek onto a contending team dumb enough to pay for him in exchange for picks, like they did with the Blues 2 seasons ago. They also might trade away Stone (can't see Murphy being dealt).
Special Teams
These are mostly general and based on Hockey-Reference's listed special teams TOIs.
PP1: Real no-brainer. Put your 5 best players on PP1.
PP2: McGinn played on the power play a lot with the Sabres and the Ducks last season. It stands to reason that he'll probably get a spot on PP2. Vermette, Rieder, and Stone were fixtures on the power play last year as well, and Goligoski had lots of power play time with the Stars. If Stone does get traded, I wouldn't be surprised to see Dvorak in his place.
PK1: Martinook played a lot of penalty kill minutes last season and will likely be on PK1. Gaudet is supposedly the heir apparent to Boyd Gordon, who played lots of minutes on the penalty kill last season as well. The defensive pair will likely be Connauton/Dahlbeck and Michálek/Schenn.
PK2: Richardson and Rieder played on the penalty kill last season, as did Murphy, and Goligoski did as well with the Stars.
I think being transparent with how I constructed my roster helps other people figure out what I was doing and makes any critique more constructive as a result.
As for Domi and Duclair, from what I saw of them last year, they're fast players that are good at scoring and setting up plays. Their numbers indicate that they played better together, especially with Hanzal. Duclair-Hanzal-Rieder was also a good combo.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
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