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Phoenix (AP) - The Phoenix Coyotes have shaken things up quite a bit over the last 48 hours with their trade becomming official by league office, nearly 24 hours ago Phoenix had already acquired underachieving goaltender Martin Gerber off waivers from Calgary. "We were originally looking at Theodore, but it became apparent that several teams were looking at picking these guys up, and with our depleated goaltending pipeline on our team, and our only real NHL calibre goaltender at this point Mike Dunham becoming an unrestricted free agent, we had to look at the best intrest of the team and the overall future of this franchise, we feel that Gerber as the most potential to really turn his career down and resume reaching the potential that we feel he has." 19.2M over 4 years is alot for a goaltender who isn't among the elite in the league but we not only feel that he can turn his career around, but we also feel that by the time the 4 years are up, that David LeNeveu will be ready to be a top goaltender in the league and hopefully one of Berra or Munce will step up to the challenge of being a solid goaltender in the league." With that it was also declared that LeNeveu will be returning to Utah of the AHL to resume his development while Mike Dunham, who has been the starter for the team so far will be the back-up and Gerber will take the bulk of the starting load.
The Phoenix Coyotes also have made a deal official this afternoon moving Lukowich who was part of the Chris Phillips deal out to Vancouver along with two-way winger Trevor Letowski and a late round pick in 09 to Vancouver for Defenceman Karel Rachunek, Boyd Deveraux, and Jean-Sebastien Aubin. "Rachunek i believe has the highest amount of potential of anyone in this deal and thats why i was willing to turn this deal, he has great two-way potential, and as much as i hate to move players like Lukowich and Letowski, Rachunek i believe has the potential to make this deal worthwhile inthe long run for the franchise, Devereaux is another player that never reached his full potential but still has it in him to be a great player, and with Aubin our goaltending depth gets stronger and alittle closer to what a team should have."
Along with the announcements when asked about his lines he says not much will change,d ispite going 1-3-1 after his 3 game win streak. "our 4th line is solidified with Ben Ondrus, Wyatt Smith and Krys Kolanos not the names you'd expect for a solid line but all 3 have been playing great when they've been given ice time and unless something really collapses i plan on keeping them together, also for the time being i would have to say the line of Ben Clymer, Craig Conroy, and Scott Walker has been solifiied as our top line, we'll have to see how Boyd Deveraux fits in but i believe we'll set him up wtih Mark Smith and Marcus Nilson, who seem to have great chemistry. It's not about who's better and so on on this team, minus Conroy and Walker we don't have any standout star players so it's all about chemsetry and fitting the right players together." said Coyotes' GM. Rachunek will assume Lukowich's place as Bergeron's D-Partner. When asked why he's not placing Hatcher with Bergeron he gave this response. "Hatcher is a top defensive player and needs top 4 minutes, but we have to look past that, Andrew Hutchinson is a solid defenceman but is very offensive and we need to have a top defenceman to help him out, at the moment we are not very deep on the blueline so instead of moving him somewhere else where he might be a liability we pair him with hatcher so he can get some more experience, and be with someone who can cover him. Bergeron plays both end of the rink, and so does Rachunek so i think it'll even out there. We have a very balanced line-up andi think thats why we've been able to steal some games."
Also on the trade front Craig Conroy's name seems to be getting bigger and bigger in the rumours department. "We have been getting some good offers, and i think with the acquisition of Martin Gerber we could move Conroy for a good prospect, it may not become available right now but when teams are competing for positioning and fighting for a playoff spot and the injury bug bites when they are that close, I think we could get something solid for Conroy, otherwise with his great play of late it could also mean that resigning him may be the best road to take, we'll play it by year and see how it goes."
The Coyotes go into action tonight vs. the New York Rangers as the last place team int he Western Conference. "Hopefully teams will underestimate us and try to get some rest time for their starters, and we can suprise and win some games, we don't expect to make the playoffs but it's the competitve nature that drives you to try to win every game, even if you know you can't."
The Phoenix Coyotes also have made a deal official this afternoon moving Lukowich who was part of the Chris Phillips deal out to Vancouver along with two-way winger Trevor Letowski and a late round pick in 09 to Vancouver for Defenceman Karel Rachunek, Boyd Deveraux, and Jean-Sebastien Aubin. "Rachunek i believe has the highest amount of potential of anyone in this deal and thats why i was willing to turn this deal, he has great two-way potential, and as much as i hate to move players like Lukowich and Letowski, Rachunek i believe has the potential to make this deal worthwhile inthe long run for the franchise, Devereaux is another player that never reached his full potential but still has it in him to be a great player, and with Aubin our goaltending depth gets stronger and alittle closer to what a team should have."
Along with the announcements when asked about his lines he says not much will change,d ispite going 1-3-1 after his 3 game win streak. "our 4th line is solidified with Ben Ondrus, Wyatt Smith and Krys Kolanos not the names you'd expect for a solid line but all 3 have been playing great when they've been given ice time and unless something really collapses i plan on keeping them together, also for the time being i would have to say the line of Ben Clymer, Craig Conroy, and Scott Walker has been solifiied as our top line, we'll have to see how Boyd Deveraux fits in but i believe we'll set him up wtih Mark Smith and Marcus Nilson, who seem to have great chemistry. It's not about who's better and so on on this team, minus Conroy and Walker we don't have any standout star players so it's all about chemsetry and fitting the right players together." said Coyotes' GM. Rachunek will assume Lukowich's place as Bergeron's D-Partner. When asked why he's not placing Hatcher with Bergeron he gave this response. "Hatcher is a top defensive player and needs top 4 minutes, but we have to look past that, Andrew Hutchinson is a solid defenceman but is very offensive and we need to have a top defenceman to help him out, at the moment we are not very deep on the blueline so instead of moving him somewhere else where he might be a liability we pair him with hatcher so he can get some more experience, and be with someone who can cover him. Bergeron plays both end of the rink, and so does Rachunek so i think it'll even out there. We have a very balanced line-up andi think thats why we've been able to steal some games."
Also on the trade front Craig Conroy's name seems to be getting bigger and bigger in the rumours department. "We have been getting some good offers, and i think with the acquisition of Martin Gerber we could move Conroy for a good prospect, it may not become available right now but when teams are competing for positioning and fighting for a playoff spot and the injury bug bites when they are that close, I think we could get something solid for Conroy, otherwise with his great play of late it could also mean that resigning him may be the best road to take, we'll play it by year and see how it goes."
The Coyotes go into action tonight vs. the New York Rangers as the last place team int he Western Conference. "Hopefully teams will underestimate us and try to get some rest time for their starters, and we can suprise and win some games, we don't expect to make the playoffs but it's the competitve nature that drives you to try to win every game, even if you know you can't."
