After initial reports of the Coyotes’ acquisition of veteran center Daymond Langkow, it wasn’t clear who the Coyotes would be sending to Calgary.
The answer is winger Lee Stempniak.
After initially being acquired by the Coyotes in a trade deadline deal from Toronto in 2009-10, the Coyotes signed Stempniak to a two-year deal last summer.
Stempniak was prone to inconsistency as a Coyote last season, with 11 of his 38 points coming from a stretch in late January. Outside of that, he failed to consistently put pucks in the net. It was hard for him to crack big minutes, though, with Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata in front of him.
The move for Langkow should prove to be a good one for the Coyotes. The team is far from stellar in the middle, and adding a veteran like Langkow should certainly help them. His $4.5 million salary he is set to earn this year shouldn’t prove to be much of an issue for Phoenix, who are far under the cap.
Aside from shoring up a position that they were greatly lacking in, the Coyotes also open the door for some of their youngsters with the trade of Stempniak. Look for an opportunity for bigger minutes from the likes of Mikkel Boedker, Brett MacLean, and even Victor Tikhonov.
Heading into training camp, the only remaining obstacle for Phoenix remains signing Kyle Turris to a new contract.