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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
... and then you look at the total number of games played in a Coyotes uniform vs played elsewhere and everything looks even worse
All I can do when reading this list of lost opportunities is "Cry, Cry Again":
https://youtu.be/NTu6MvetFAE
That pic of former GM Paddock says it all.
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.
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.
To quote Dr. Zachary Smith (Lost In Space).... "The pain, the pain."
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.
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!