Coyotes captain Shane Doan doesn’t exactly understand Martin Hanzal trade

It’s hard for anyone who makes a living in any other position other than professional athlete to understand the concept of being traded.

Imagine, you punch your timecard at the Acme Corporation on a Monday morning and halfway through your shift, you’re traded to XYZ Corporation for a younger, cheaper employee.

Yeah. That doesn’t happen.

But it’s a reality in pro sports — just part of the business.

The Arizona Coyotes traded one of their longest-tenured players, center Martin Hanzal, along with forward Ryan White to the Minnesota Wild Sunday in exchange for draft picks and prospect Grayson Downing. Hanzal and White are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, and with the Coyotes not making the playoffs for a fifth straight year, the move was practically inevitable.

However, captain Shane Doan didn’t seem to feel that way, as evidenced by an in-game interview he conducted with Todd Walsh of Fox Sports Arizona during the Coyotes’ 3-2 win over Buffalo Sunday night.

Arizona, 22-32-7, has 51 points, currently the second-worst record in the Western Conference. They sit 16 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second Wild Card playoff spot with 21 games remaining.

Hanzal, 30, leads the Coyotes with 16 goals, tying his personal career high.

Timing may have had a part with the difficult nature of this particular trade. Hanzal literally said goodbye to his teammates while they were preparing for a game. The press release announcing the deal went out during the contest and Arizona general manager John Chayka conducted a media conference call in the middle of the game.

Doan, himself, has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate should the 21-year veteran choose to allow a deal to a team in contention for the Stanley Cup. It will be interesting to gauge whether or not his feelings on seeing Hanzal, his teammate for the last decade, influence a decision on his future before Wednesday’s trade deadline.

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