VAN CALLS ARI: A Home Coming for Tkachuk
The Arizona Coyotes may have looked to move up from the seventh-overall spot to draft Auston Matthews via a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the price will not be half as much when they call Vancouver about a trade to move up to the No. 5 slot.
The Coyotes are desperately in need at the left wing position. With Pierre-Luc Dubois and Matthew Tkachuk both being left wings, the Coyotes will certainly look to trade up to the fifth overall slot if the push for Auston Matthews does not prevail.
Though I cannot think that there is much difference between the fifth overall slot and the seventh overall slot, the Canucks could use to their advantage how much the Coyotes need a quality left winger, as well as the fact that Matthew Tkachuk is an Arizona native, just like Matthews.
Jordan Martinook is a former Vancouver Giant left wing who plays a very physical brand of hockey mixed with speed and skill. Though he is not a top-six scorer by any means, the 23-year-old proved to be a good checking forward at 15 minutes of ice time a night. The 6-foot-0, 202-pound winger will be entering the final year of his ELC this season after scoring 24 points last season.
Martinook is very similar to Emerson Etem in his speed and flashes of offensive brilliance.
Brendan Gaunce is also a hotly debated name. After the Canucks traded away Jared McCann, the 22-year-old left wing-center hybrid seems to be the 4C by default. However, the former first-round pick failed to contribute near the end of the season, finishing the year with just one goal in 20 games.
Why the Trade Makes Sense
With the new analytics-based management group settling in for Arizona, Martinook’s value is as low as it will ever get. He had a poor finish to the season and the possession metrics do not lie; Martinook was a -1.1 percent relative Corsi For this past season, despite starting 57 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone.
On the other hand, Brendan Gaunce is a great player in analytics wise. On a depleted Canucks squad at the end of the season, Gaunce mustered a +3.2 percent relative Corsi For despite starting his shifts on defensive assignments 59 percent of the time.
Will Gaunce become the next prospect of the Gillis era that will be traded by Benning? With the Coyotes’ default fourth-line center Boyd Gordon set to hit free agency, Arizona may want to add a versatile two-way centerman of Gaunce’s caliber to fill Gordon’s void.
Next: Mock Draft 3.0: Beichler's First 91 Picks
And of course, it is a great story to have a former Vancouver Giant player come back to Vancouver while the Coyotes land Matthew Tkachuk, the Arizona native.