Is it time for the Coyotes to trade for another defenceman? During the Coyotes 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, Juuso Välimäki went down with a scary face injury and according to PHNX’s Craig Morgan will be out for ‘a while’. Morgan also reported that the Coyotes will recall Vladislav Kolyachonok from the Tucson Roadrunners but is that really enough? With both Travis Dermott and now Välimäki out with injuries, it’s clear that the Coyotes are really lacking defensive depth. This is a glaring part of the roster that may need to get addressed sooner rather than later. André Tourigny spoke following the Coyotes 4-3 loss to the Stars. While the Coyotes have a couple good skaters on the defensive side of the puck including Sean Durzi and Matt Dumba, they are lacking a true defensively minded defenceman. Arizona really could use that sort of player right now especially with a defensive corps that continues to get weaker due to a plethora of injuries. The Coyotes are in the hunt for a wild card spot in the Western Conference and can’t afford to waste any time. If they indeed want to make a playoff push, now may be the right time for general manager Bill Armstrong to see which defencemen are potentially available. It’s pretty early on in the season so it’s unclear which players would even be available to be traded at this point in time. It will be interesting to see how Armstrong is ready to make this sort of move now or wait it out as Dermott and Välimäki go through the recovery process.
