The NHL Trade Deadline is coming up on March 8. A few weeks ago when it seemed that the Arizona Coyotes had a real shot at making the playoffs, their potential trade deadline strategy was still up in the air. Now however with the team on a 13-game losing streak and hopes for the playoffs all but shattered, it’s clear that they will most likely sell at the deadline. Coach André Tourigny talked about how he approaches his players at this time of year with the trade deadline just around the corner. “I leave them alone to be honest,” Tourigny said. “I approach it today differently than a month ago, but those guys have been around and I always stay away from the business side of it. I think I have a really good relationship with the players, I take care of the person. 240229 Morning Skate Tourigny “I don’t want to get in a contract or trades and stuff like that because first of all I’m not aware of everything, so the last thing I will do is ever lie to my players, so I will not get in a situation where I have to not be honest. It’s not my business. We have the best in the business taking care of that, so I will stay in my lane.” The Coyotes have a number of players that are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer including Jason Zucker, Liam O’Brien, Matt Dumba, Josh Brown, Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott. General manager Bill Armstrong will be tasked with a big decision to see if it is worth it to trade these players on expiring contracts. He will have to weigh what he can get in return to the value they bring to the team to ultimately see if he would pull the trigger on a trade. There has been a ton of speculation on who the Coyotes might trade, but it’s all rumors until something actually gets done, so it’s difficult to determine what is true or false.. Expect the unexpected because at the trade deadline anything is possible.
