Coyotes land upside defenseman in exchange for future second-round pick

Durzi has one year left on his contract at a more than reasonable $1.7M AAV.  On top of that, he has two more seasons of team control after next year, meaning that he will be under Arizona’s control through the 2025-26 campaign.  He will immediately become the Coyotes’ top-paid blueliner, a sign of how much change their back end has undergone in recent times.  

A right-shot defender, Durzi could be counted on to play on Arizona’s top pairing next season, depending on what else they accomplish in the coming weeks.  That should give him a chance for a bigger role offensively, which could set him up quite nicely for a significant raise on his current contract.  Getting a player in that role for a future second-rounder is certainly a nice piece of business for Armstrong, especially since the Coyotes still have eight second-rounders over the next three drafts.  Even after the move, Arizona has some work to do to get to the cap floor, let alone coming anywhere close to next year’s projected Upper Limit of $83.5M.

As for the Kings, GM Rob Blake is dealing from a strong spot, as Los Angeles has some promising offensive blueliners in their system.  Jordan Spence had a dominant year at AHL Ontario with 45 points in 56 games this past season and could be ready to make the full-time jump to the NHL.  Meanwhile, Brandt Clarke, who spent the first few months of this past season with the Kings, finished up strong with OHL Barrie and could push for a full-time role in 2023-24.  Both players are on entry-level contracts at about half of Durzi’s cost, meaning the move not only lands them what projects to be a decent second-rounder a year from now but also frees up some cap flexibility.  With the swap, the Kings now have a little over $9M in cap space, per CapFriendly, with at least four roster spots to fill including a starting goaltender.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report (Twitter links) both that Durzi was going to Arizona and the draft pick return.