Coyotes have earned right to supplement roster

Over the past few seasons, the Coyotes ownership group, management staff and coaches have sung the same tune: The team must earn the right to add pieces for a playoff run.

No matter what happens on Saturday against the Nashville Predators at Gila River Arena, the Coyotes will hit the 41-game mark of the season — the halfway point — in second place in the Pacific Division.

Arizona is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, it is 9-1-2 against the Pacific (the best intra-division mark in the NHL) and it will play 14 of its next 18 games at Gila River Arena, where it is 8-2-2 in its last 12 games.

In what is still a rebuilding year, the Coyotes are achieving their preseason goal of competing for a playoff spot, they are achieving their preseason goal of displaying organizational growth and they have re-energized a fan base that was reaching for medication to mitigate last season’s 56-point free fall.

The Coyotes have earned the right to add pieces to this roster to push them over the playoff hump. The trick will be finding pieces that don’t compromise the future for a short-term fix on what is still not a Stanley Cup contender.

“We’re still right in the middle of this playoff race but I don’t think we should be lobbing out top prospects to make ourselves a little better right now,” general manager Don Maloney said. “It’s a fine line you walk to say ‘let’s add a couple pieces to give us a better chance’ when that also means sending a young player to the sidelines or to another team. It’s a constant juggling act to continue to bring this team along.”

A casual glance at this week’s flurry of trades might suggest that the NHL market is finally open for business after three months of shuttered windows.

That would be obtuse analysis.

Columbus’ decision to ship top center Ryan Johansen to Nashville for defenseman Seth Jones was a major trade, but nothing else that has happened remotely approaches that level. Los Angeles acquired soon-to-retire forward Vincent Lecavalier and inconsistent defenseman Luke Schenn to add missing depth and grit to its blue line. Washington signed center Mike Richards, whose contract the Kings were thrilled to terminate last summer after a major decline in production and his arrest and investigation at the Canadian border for possession of the prescription drug oxycodone.

The Canadiens also traded goaltender Dustin Tokarski to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Max Friberg in a yawn-inducing move.

With every team in the Western Conference still within seven points of a playoff spot, Maloney doesn’t expect much significant movement for another month.

“I would think our decisions would be made closer to the (Feb. 29) trade deadline,” he said, “but I do realize that we’re still looking at two, three, four years down road, so we would be looking for players that could help us long-term.”

Coyotes fans might wonder why Maloney can’t pull off a trade to acquire a player of Jones’ or Johansen’s stature. He’d love to, but to get Johansen, the Predators dealt from an area of strength on what was arguably the NHL’s best blue line while still giving up a defenseman whom many project as a top-pairing player. To trade a player of Johansen’s ability, that is the only move that made sense for Columbus because right-handed, top-pairing defensemen are just as hard to find as No. 1 centers. The only defenseman the Coyotes have of Jones’ stature is Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and he’s not going anywhere.

“The Columbus deal is the kind of deal we would make; the caliber of player we’d be willing to give up top prospects for, but you saw what it took get those players. The price was a top D-man or a top center,” Maloney said. “It’s difficult and challenging to find deals that make sense for both parties, especially with so many teams so tight against the cap.”

Maloney reiterated that the Coyotes won’t add rental players who won’t be with the team next season, and they probably won’t add players on the wrong side of 30. Maloney believes the Coyotes could use help in all areas, but with so many forward prospects knocking on the door, it might make the most sense to add to the blue line.

The Coyotes don’t have any top prospects in their system ready to make the jump to the NHL, so an addition would add needed depth without impeding the progress of a prospect.

Adding a puck-moving defenseman could allow coach Dave Tippett and assistant Jim Playfair to slot other players into more suitable positions, but again, making that trade is easier said than done.

“There are about 20 other teams looking for help on defense,” NBC’s NHL analyst Ed Olczyk said. “Not many teams have depth right now.”

Whatever the Coyotes decide to do, their focus must remain on the future because this franchise’s best days are still ahead of it, not at hand. On the other hand, it would be a nice and deserved reward for the players and coaches who have overachieved this season if Maloney were able to add a piece or two to help the immediate cause. In an organization that always seems to be pointing to the future, adding pieces would send a positive message that the present also matters.

Predators at Coyotes

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale

TV: FOX Sports Arizona

Radio: ESPN 620 AM
Probable goalies: Coyotes — Louis Domingue. Predators — Carter Hutton.

Injury report: Coyotes — G Mike Smith (IR, abdominal surgery) and RW Joe Vitale (IR, concussion symptoms) are out. Predators — F Gabriel Bourque (IR, upper body) is out.

Scouting the Predators: Nashville pulled off the first blockbuster trade of the season when it sent defenseman Seth Jones, the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft to Columbus for center Ryan Johansen. Johansen had a goal and an assist in his debut between wings Colin Wilson and James Neal on Friday in Denver. … Pekka Rinne has been an average goaltender this season with a .906 save percentage behind perhaps the NHL’s best blue line. That’s a concern for Nashville in the postseason and Rinne will face additional scrutiny now that Johansen is on board and expectations have increased. … D Roman Josi leads the team with 22 assists and 31 points.

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