Arizona Coyotes Trade Justin Peters, Justin Hache To Stars

The Arizona Coyotes AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners have traded goaltender Justin Peters and defenseman Justin Hache to the Texas Stars.

The Arizona Coyotes are making moves on the trade market, just not the ones you’d expect.

They traded Tucson Roadrunners’ goaltender Justin Peters and defender Justin Hache to the Texas Stars in exchange for Brendan Ranford and Branden Troock.

The move was a bit out of the blue, but it makes perfect sense for Tucson.

Adin Hill has emerged as a legitimate goaltender for the Roadrunners. He’s appeared in 20 games and has posted a .923 save percentage through the first four months of his first season in the AHL.

In short, he’s probably a bit ahead of where the Coyotes’ front office expected him to be at this point.

On the other hand, Justin Peters was not having a very good season in Tucson. Through 12 appearances, the veteran goaltender struggled to an .868 save percentage.

Peters was brought in to carry the load and mentor Hill to prepare him to take the reigns next season. Instead, Hill has seized the reigns and Peters has been the odd man out.

This move also allows Marek Langhamer to assume the full-time backup position in Tucson, which is something that was important to Tucson Roadrunners general manager Doug Soetaert.

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“We feel that we have two very good young goaltenders in Adin Hill and Marek Langhamer and want to give them both a chance to play more,” said Soetaert.

The acquisition of Brendan Ranford is a sneaky good for Tucson, as well.

Ranford is a smaller forward at 5’10, 178 pounds, but he’s been quite productive in the AHL.

The 24-year-old scored 51 points in 2015 and 59 points last season.

He’s having a slower year so far in 2017 season, with just 6 goals and 11 assists, but he should look to go a long way towards filling holes left in the lineup by the absence of Craig Cunningham and the promotion of Brendan Perlini to the Arizona Coyotes.

The trade ultimately solves two problems for the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.

It allows the Roadrunners to utilize both of their young goaltenders, including giving touted prospect Adin Hill the reigns as the unquestioned number one netminder.

The team also bolsters a somewhat depleted forward corps with a proven scorer in Brendan Ranford who may prove to be an important piece as the team pushes towards the AHL playoffs.

The Roadrunners seeing playoff hockey is very important to the Arizona Coyotes.

Not only will it provide more playing time and experience for top prospects who are already in Tucson or rookies in the NHL, but it could also provide top prospect Dylan Strome with late season taste of professional hockey should his season with the Erie Otters end early.

All in all, it’s a win-win for Tucson and Arizona.

Let the Adin Hill era begin in earnest.