The Arizona Coyotes are covering all of their bases with forward Martin Hanzal. Hanzal’s contract expires after the 2016-17 season and the Coyotes are already negotiating an extension. While having those conversations, the team reportedly asked Hanzal for his “trade list” so they know where he’d be willing to go in the event of a trade.
Via Sportsnet.ca:
The Coyotes have asked for his “trade list,” so they know where he would go. They are also discussing an extension for the center, who is one year from unrestricted free agency. So, it could go either way. It sounds like Arizona would like to add at least one defenseman, maybe two.
Hanzal has a limited no-trade clause, but the details of that clause aren’t known. While it may seem odd that the Coyotes would ask for his list of trade destinations while discussing an extension, it actually makes a lot of sense from a couple of angles.
The Coyotes have made it known they’d like to keep Hanzal, but in the event that they can’t reach a middle ground in their talks, the club has respectfully asked where he would like to go should a trade prove to be the best option. Aside from respect, this could help boost Hanzal’s overall trade value as a team on the receiving end would probably prefer to land a player who is willing to sign an extension rather than a rental.
Should the Coyotes choose to trade Hanzal to address their needs at defense, they’d then have to find a replacement up the middle. It’s unclear what type of return Hanzal could fetch, but his 41 points in 64 games in 2015-16 could be pretty attractive to a variety of teams.
