Hip Checks

Coyotes traded for Brian McGrattan of Ottawa for a 5th round pick in 2009 that we aquired from Boston. It looks like we got our heavy weight to take the pressure off of Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo will now be able to focus on scoring, being a pest, and fighting only those he has to (or really wants to). He will no longer have to take on the heavyweights (although he holds his own quite well).

I am liking this trade. We didn’t give up much but we got a player who knows his place and sounds like he wants to be here. He knows he is here to protect the young guys.

Some quotes and stuff from the Arizona Republic:
The new Coyotes enforcer Brian McGrattan figures that he and Daniel Carcillo, who led the NHL in penalty minutes last season, could be a potent one-two punch.
"He can concentrate on other things, and he can stir things up a bit, and I'll finish it off for him," he said laughing.
He said he wants to come into training camp and work hard and try to get into the lineup every night. He thinks a realistic goal is five to seven minutes a game, adding it would be "great" if it exceeded that.
I like that he wants to increase his playing time from 2 min/game to 5-7 min/game. He’s got a goal and to reach it he knows he has to work hard. This could be a great addition to our team. He is also rumored to be good friends with Ray Emery. If Ray wants to come to Phoenix and party, I would welcome that and would volunteer to show them around! I would love to meet Ray again. That boy is fine!

Ok, back to some hockey news..
Tjarnqvist will most likely not be a Coyote this coming season. At first I was shocked. Our penalty kill would really take a hit (no TQ, no Bally, probably no Ziggy – he will probably be back in SA) but after watching the rookies, they are good and they have speed. They could easily steal a puck and go racing down the ice. I don’t really know who will be willing to block a shot like Bally and TQ besides Z though. We will have to wait and see.

It sounds like Maloney would like to see Vrbata back but will shore up the blueline first. Looks like we will get at least one, possible tow, young veteran UFA blueliners. Yandle, Ross and Jones probably will get long looks in training camp. That worries me. I like Ross and he looked good in rookie camp but is he ready for the big time? Yandle, well what can I say about him? The boy cracks under pressure. He has tons of potential but isn’t using any of it. Jones just needs to figure out what kind of dman he is. He needs to either hit more or get more offensive, just find his niche. He’s just kind of middle of the road last season, not doing anything that made him really stand out.

Weller was offered a two-way contract. No word on what he is going to do. He may just test the waters of UFA. I would love to see him back as a Coyote and learn to plant his bug body in front of the net.

Speaking of that, Toc was not offered a new contract. Looks like he will be going to the Lightning. From what I have heard his leaving was fairly mutual. I wish him all the best. He will be a great head coach someday and may get a chance sooner with another team.

Qualifying offers were giving to the following RFAs:
McGrattan, Carcillo, Montoya, the defunct Russian, Perrault, and Jones. Baby Hossa was not given a QO. I wonder where he will end up? Back in Europe?

July 1st is only a few days away. I actually have to be at work that day, since it’s a Tuesday. Last year the 1st was a Sunday and the next day was my flex day. Hopefully we know something right away. I hope Maloney already has a dman or two already lined up. If not, we could end up spending a lot more than wanted or just using the rookies.

Ok, well I think that about just covers all the news. I am going to go upload some pics and work on cropping some. Pics to be posted later!