After return to playoffs then disappointing elimination, Phoenix GM revamps lineup

[silentsim]

After a return to playoffs for the Phoenix franchise in a long long time, Phoenix GM Sim was disappointed with the result in the playoffs.

We saw some weaknesses in our lineup and our goal this offseason is to improve in certain areas.

This would start a string of deals that see's the Phoenix Coyotes get younger and a more variation in player types.

Our first move?

Trade long-time favorite player Patrice Bergeron.

Bergeron was great for the Coyotes and a GM favorite but we acquired a center we have been wanting for a long time in Anze Kopitar. Patrice Bergeron and the 30th pick (NYI) were sent to the Habs.

Bergeron was seen visibly disappointed upon hearing the news.
http://www.whatsupyasieve.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bergeron-Patrice-stitches-2.jpg
"The Habs? A joke?"
Meanwhile, Anze Kopitar was all smiles.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-udUT32RG958/UNGET1R28EI/AAAAAAAAiZQ/a2tUm_c9hLw/s320/Anze+Kopitar.jpeg
We also wanted to shore up our defensive depth. We suddenly saw Zach Parise playing on the 2nd line and earning 9 million dollars. On a cap crunch this just isn't possible to maintain, where the dollars can be spent in other areas more needed then this position.

In a huge deal that took several days, the Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings collided on a major deal.

The pre-amp to this deal is late last year Phoenix traded Bobby Ryan+ 2 5th's for Phil Kessel + 5th, and then traded Phil The Thrill for Zach Parise straight up. This trade see's Bobby Ryan return to Phoenix.

Phoenix acquired Bobby Ryan, Alex Edler, Tyler Ennis, and Michael Rozsival in exchange for Zach Parise, Braydon Coburn, Jamie McBain, Brady Skjei and a 2013/2014 3rd round pick.

The final deal to address the Defense was shipping out Dan Hamhuis, who was acquired late in the season last year. Dan Hamhuis has a great overall stat base in the sim with 89 DF and a great PA rating. Phoenix saw themselves without a true offensive defenseman, and the powerplay lacked due to this. To address this, Phoenix traded Hamhuis for Keith Yandle.

To Summarize this was the flow of players (just players) in and out of the organization.

OUT:
Patrice Bergeron
Dan Hamhuis
Braydon Coburn
Jamie McBain
Zach Parise

IN:
Anze Kopitar
Keith Yandle
Alex Edler
Bobby Ryan
Michael Rozsival
Tyler Ennis


We are pleased with the moves we have made here in getting younger in the core players while adding depth in certain areas and re-structuring the salary expensive to the defensive area where we felt it was a weakness last season.

GM Sim insists he is not done tinkering with the team. We have gotten a little younger in core players here over the last few days but this is not the roster the Phoenix Coyotes will enter the regular season with. GM Sim strives to built a cup winning team in the Desert.

[Daradon]

What started out as an experiment in asset value for this new GM turned into an actual trade.

At the end of the playoffs I had placed Anze Kopitar on the trading block just to try and control the direction and feel of the offers which I knew were sure to come my way anyway. I had spent more time than I would have liked this year rejecting offers for the young superstar and felt this might be a good way to at least control the conversation and get all of my information in one place. A large part of me never thought we would trade the current years #5 point getter.

Of course the offers poured in, with probably a third of the league baselining to offering significant and strong deals. Looking at a significant cap decrease I had to take some of them into consideration.

At the end of the day, the deal I chose, ended up being the most 'sideways' for lack of a better term. But I had stated that I wanted a strong center to replace Kopi. Perhaps not a superstar, but someone who was at least a 1B. This deal actually gave me a superstar.

And so it's my privilege to welcome (back) to La Belle Province, Quebec native Patrice Bergeron.

In a season where we scored many goals, but also allowed many, I felt this swap might help us shore up some of our defensive liabilities. Bergeron is one of the strongest 2 way centers in the game and has an outstanding face off presence. He is also a known playoff performer and that's obviously something we felt we needed more of given our exit this year.

We have nothing but respect and admiration for Anze as he leaves this organization. It's no secret that he drew in fans, and we were impressed with his level of commitment to the team and the culture, even forgoing his english lessons to learn french.

The deal also gave me a chance to move up the 2014 1st Phx owed me to 2013, which we feel is a deeper draft.

Thank you to all the GM's for their interest. I tried to do my best to stay in touch with everyone and reply to their offers in a timely manner. But as we all know in this biz, sometimes when you find the deal you want, things move quickly. As well, contact in the offseason is not always the most reliable.

In another move to get more defensive we moved PP quarterback Keith Yandle for Dan Hamhuis. We spent a great deal of effort to secure Keith, and we loved his presence on the point, racking up points in nearly every game, but at the end of the day, the experiment didn't seem to work as well for us as we would have wished.

We wish Yandle all the best in the desert and are very excited to have Hamhuis patrolling our blueline in the new season.

We believe this new mix of defensive prowess will help secure another postseason berth for the Habs and give us the strength to make our run longer this time.