It seems like just last year people were discussing the Arizona Coyotes‘ playoff push as they seemed destined for a wild card spot. The crazy thing is – that was exactly the case. As the desert dogs approached the end of 2023, they looked poised to make a run, culminating in their first playoff appearance since the 2019-20 season. What began as excitement, has quickly turned sour within the first two months of the new year.
The Coyotes have struggled mightily in the year 2024. Once red-hot goaltender Connor Ingram has hit a slump, the team is struggling to score, and worst of all, they can’t seem to stay out of the penalty box for more than a couple of minutes. Add in their abysmal record during January and (so far) February and they have quickly gone from conservative buyers at the trade deadline to conservative sellers.
This puts general manager Bill Armstrong in a tough boat. The Coyotes need to make improvements on both offense and (especially) defense, and that may lead to a shakeup in the team’s core, mainly regarding Nick Schmaltz, the oldest and most replaceable player in Armstrong’s core.
Moving Schmaltz Makes the Most Sense
For all of the readers out there asking the question: Why is trading Schmaltz being discussed again? We understand the confusion. Trade rumors surrounding the Coyotes forward have been a subject of talk for the past two seasons. While they have indeed not moved him during the last two seasons, it doesn’t exclude the fact that he’s one of the team’s biggest trade pieces in terms of return. So why bring this subject up again for what feels like the 1,000th time?
Related: Coyotes’ Schmaltz Becoming Likely Trade Candidate
It’s simple and can be broken down into five parts: age, production, consistency, play style, and lastly, contract status/trade value. For starters, he’s the oldest of the team’s current core. He’s currently 27 years old, and his age doesn’t fit the timeline of the team’s rebuild (reminder, the team is still in a rebuild). Secondly, his production while not great, has been overall steady. He’s coming off back-to-back 50-point seasons and could provide insurance for a playoff-caliber team.
Third, his consistency has been, perhaps, the biggest red flag of his entire career. He’s been in the league for nine seasons (including the current season) and has yet to play an entire 82-game season. He’s also struggled to consistently produce, something that has been mentioned more than once, often being described as a hot and cold player.
Fourth, his play style is something the Coyotes have an abundance of now – a pass-first player, i.e. the rest of their core (Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, and Matias Maccelli). Lastly, he’s the next eligible for a contract extension out of the team’s core, and is the most replaceable of the four mentioned above. He also offers the highest return value among rumored deadline players (i.e. Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba), which could allow Armstrong to stockpile more draft picks and future talent.
When Could Schmaltz Theoretically Be Moved?
Once you break down the reasons for moving Schmaltz, then you have to ask yourself, when could this theoretically happen? The most obvious answer is the trade deadline – but that doesn’t make the most sense for Armstrong. While the Coyotes are on the downslide, currently sitting well out of reach of a wild card spot, the team could wait to pull the trigger on a deal at the 2024 NHL Draft in hopes of adding another high first-round pick.
A trade deadline deal isn’t out of the question though. Armstrong will be manning the phones all day, and if a deal that’s too good to pass on comes along, he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. The months of March through June/July will be the time to keep an eye on the desert (for more than one reason) and will answer this question.
Final Thoughts
The Coyotes aren’t obligated to make moves ahead of, or at the March 8 trade deadline. Armstrong could stand firm with this current group, and hold onto the hope that the team can figure things out, and fast. At the same time, he could decide to flip a couple of pieces to bolster their draft capital and build their pipeline for the future.
Schmaltz has been a well-loved player during his stint in the desert. There’s no denying the chemistry he’s built with Keller and Barrett Hayton. He’s also registered the best statistical seasons of his career in Arizona. Ultimately at the end of the day, tough decisions will be made regarding this group. Such high hopes have fizzled out, and with the team, by the looks of it, all but out of the playoff race, core decisions need to be made to make improvements for next season, and Schmaltz is the odd-man out.