Hanzal Goes Wild

steve laidlaw

2017-02-26

In Sunday's second significant deal, Martin Hanzal is headed to Minny.

Fantasy Impact: The Minnesota Wild acquire Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and a fourth-round pick from the Arizona Coyotes for a 2017 first-round pick, a 2018 second-round pick and a conditional 2019 second-round pick.

The Wild get: Another big centerman to go along with Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu, Erik Haula and (on occasion) Charlie Coyle. Not to mention White can also play some center. They are loaded down the middle, and appear to be fully committed to winning now.

Hanzal has not had a great year, but he came on strong at the exact right time scoring six goals in the past eight games. The Wild won’t be looking for too much offense from Hanzal. He may not even get any power-play time after averaging 2:58 per game for the Coyotes. Instead, he’ll be used in a defensive capacity, although you should expect Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker to continue to see the most defensive zone starts. They have been DYNAMITE at transitioning the puck out of their own end for offense. Ultimately, Hanzal offers a nice insurance policy against injury in the top six.

Presumably, Hanzal will replace Haula on the third line but it’s possible that he was acquired to be their fourth line center in a lineup without weakness. Check out the Wild’s lines from their last game to imagine the possibilities:

#1           27.9%    GRANLUND,MIKAEL – KOIVU,MIKKO – ZUCKER,JASON

#2           23.9%    COYLE,CHARLIE – NIEDERREITER,NINO – STAAL,ERIC

#3           21.3%    HAULA,ERIK – PARISE,ZACH – POMINVILLE,JASON

#4           9.1%      GRAOVAC,TYLER – SCHROEDER,JORDAN – STEWART,CHRIS

If Hanzal gets to skate between Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, he’ll be in a very good spot. Those veterans went into their bye week hot, with Pominville scoring 17 points in his last 15 games, while Parise was not as prolific but was looking healthier than at any point this season.

Every Cup-winning team needs depth and the Wild have pushed many of their chips in for a run at it this season. They are certain to lose a good player in the expansion draft so the time is now, especially with all the veterans in their lineup. The Wild experimented with calling up Alex Tuch to skate alongside Staal and Niederreiter but the rookie failed to make a large impact. Staal has cooled off scoring only one goal and four points in 11 games since the All-Star break. Getting Coyle back onto his wing is likely the better way to boast three scoring lines.

It also would have been wonderful had the Wild been able to get top prospect Joel Eriksson Ek back from Sweden after he was so good in a brief cameo earlier this season. There is an argument that Eriksson Ek would have been better than any deadline addition they could have made, especially with what a role speed plays in today’s game but again, Hanzal is excellent insurance against a Koivu or Staal injury.

As we saw at the World Juniors, the Wild boast a great prospect pipeline. They could afford to take a big swing like this. It’s not every year you have a chance to win the Cup. Earlier they had suggested that they would stand pat, not wanting to upset the apple cart, which is why it seems very likely that Hanzal could be used in a fourth-line role.

The Coyotes get: Draft picks. Lots of them. Until last season’s Clayton Keller/Jakob Chychrun haul, the Coyotes had seen at least one of their first-round picks turn into a bust every time they had two of them in a year. That’s a reminder that these are still just raffle tickets at the end of the day. It is worth revisiting Scott Cullen’s work on draft pick value, which showed that the 30th overall pick has historical brought about an NHL player 38% of the time. So if the Wild make the Cup final, the Coyotes won’t be getting a great pick. Getting three picks, in exchange for one and some expirings is a good haul, but suggesting that this is a great haul is overblowing it a little.

Losing Hanzal will certainly hurt. He had finally started to gain some traction with a healthy Max Domi and Radim Vrbata. Those two will lose a reliable linemate, although Vrbata may be gone by Wednesday as well. Domi is a clear loser if both of these guys leave, even if he is the best player of the three.

Meanwhile, someone will have to step into Hanzal’s minutes. Christian Dvorak has seven points in his last nine games and could be primed to step into Hanzal’s role on the top power play unit. We may also see more power play time open up for Anthony DeAngelo to pair with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Finally, this may push Peter Holland into a top-six role, which is an intriguing possibility.

Hanzal leaving also suggests that he won’t be signing long-term with the Coyotes although he might yet return. His absence would clear a path for Keller to make the leap if he so choses, or perhaps Dylan Strome will be a year older and more prepared for NHL rigors.

Selling off useful pieces as part of the never-ending treadmill of mediocrity is an exhausting process for fans, especially Coyote fans who don’t even know if their team is sticking around. It’s a dangerous game the Coyotes are playing. Although paying a 30-year-old centerman with a career high 16 goals would also have been dangerous. It can be tough to dig out of this situation. They’ll need to hit on these extra draft picks to get out. In the meantime, the Coyotes just made a bad roster worse. Poor Mike Smith.

Players this helps, in order:

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Christian Dvorak

Peter Holland

Devan Dubnyk

Clayton Keller

Dylan Strome

Players this hurts, in order:

Martin Hanzal

Erik Haula

Chris Stewart

Max Domi

Mike Smith

*

Fantasy owners are weighing in on this trade. Give your take here.

Thanks for reading. You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.

 

 

 

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