Arizona Coyotes send G Adin Hill to Tucson Roadrunners

The Arizona Coyotes sent goaltender Adin Hill to Tucson on Monday following a roster move on Sunday that brought goaltender Calvin Pickard back up to the NHL from the Roadrunners, the team announced.

Hill was the goaltender on Sunday in the Coyotes’ 7-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, but apart from that, the team had three goaltenders on its roster before sending him down: Hill, Pickard and Darcy Kuemper.

Pickard was claimed off of waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 28 at a time when injuries plagued that position for Arizona. He never played as Kuemper got healthy and Hill stayed healthy, and eventually, Pickard was sent to Tucson on a conditioning loan.

The NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) stipulates that teams can send a player to the AHL on a conditioning loan at the player’s consent, and the assignment isn’t subject to the rules of normal minor league assignments, such as the necessity for some players to clear waivers before going to the minor leagues. But conditioning loans can last for only 14 days, and that time had expired for Pickard. Therefore, the Coyotes recalled him on Sunday.

Hill going back to Tucson alleviates the logjam at goaltender at the NHL level and will allow him to get consistent playing time in the AHL. In his first three appearances with the Coyotes this year, Hill didn’t allow a goal and was named one of the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week, but in total he has compiled a .901 save percentage. Since that three-game goalless stretch, his save percentage has been .889 with a 3.20 goals against average.

Kuemper has a .914 save percentage this season and a .941 mark in his last four games. The Coyotes’ starter at the beginning of the season, Antti Raanta, is out indefinitely with an injury.

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