Arizona Coyotes Must Pursue Jacob Trouba

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba has requested a trade from his current team and the Arizona Coyotes have the pieces to make a deal happen.

The Arizona Coyotes developed some fantastic depth at a point of weakness over this past offseason, locking up players like Michael Stone and Connor Murphy to team-favorable contracts while aggressively pursuing a top-4 upgrade in Alex Goligoski.

However, General Manager John Chayka has been adamant that he may not be done tweaking the roster. He’s indicated that he’s willing to pursue any avenue that will improve his organization.

Early Saturday night, Chayka’s chance may have emerged.

With Jacob Trouba‘s agent notifying Winnipeg’s management that they want a trade, Arizona received an opportunity to get in on the Trouba sweepstakes.

Outsiders may scoff at the idea that the Coyotes would have a shot at nabbing Trouba, but the Arizona Coyotes have the pieces to make a move.

There’s more than a few names that might entice the Winnipeg Jets to take a look at sending their soon to be former defenseman to the desert.

The Coyotes have an excess of prospects, particularly down the middle. With players like Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak who likely aren’t available for trades, other center prospects like Ryan MacInnis, Laurent Dauphin could be thrust onto the trading block.

Similarly, the Arizona Coyotes have a plethora of wingers, both prospects and roster players including former first rounders Brendan Perlini and Nick Merkley.

Trouba’s fellow restricted free agent (RFA) holdout Tobias Rieder could also become a piece in a potential deal as well.

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With regards to defense, Winnipeg has a decent amount of depth in that department but often times in these trades the offloading GM expects an NHL-caliber replacement to be part of the return package. Players like Klas Dahlbeck, Kevin Connauton and Jarred Tinordi may be good fits in that department.

Of course, there are a few players who are obviously off-limits when it comes to the Coyotes roster. Shane Doan will never be traded, and it isn’t hard to imagine why.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi and Anthony Duclair are trade chips that GM John Chayka could have used to get Auston Matthews at the draft and he didn’t use them then, so there is no reason he’d drop those names in an effort to get Trouba now.

Other players likely on Chayka’s no-trade list might be recently signed defensemen Connor Murphy, Michael Stone, and Alex Goligoski as well as recent first round selection Jakob Chychrun.

That leaves a lot of prospects out in the open.

Names like Conor Garland, Anthony DeAngelo, Christian Fischer, and Brendan Perlini. Other options could include roster players like Brad Richardson, Zbynek Michalek and maybe even Martin Hanzal.

It would also be safe to assume that no draft pick would be off-limits in any deal to acquire Trouba.

Trouba could end up anywhere and lots of teams are likely in the market for a defenseman who says he exclusively wants to play on the right side of a defensive pair, but the Coyotes have the pieces to make a legitimate push to get him.

With Head Coach Dave Tippett’s role growing in the front office this offseason, who’s to say that Trouba’s assistant coach for Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey doesn’t make a push to be his new NHL head coach?

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