Arizona Coyotes

NHL Trade Rumors: Sharks, Kings among Martin Hanzal suitors

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:56 p.m. ET

Fansided, Dave Stevenson/Fansided

The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings are just two of the teams who have trade interest in Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal.

Martin Hanzal of the Arizona Coyotes will be a free agent after the 2016-17 NHL season. Before this season, there was some hope his team would be contenders so they wouldn’t have to trade him. Reportedly, the two sides aren’t ruling out an extension either. However, with the Coyotes in second-to-last place in the Western Conference, it’s clear they need to be sellers at the trade deadline.

Naturally, trading Hanzal makes sense for Arizona. After all, even if they have a desire to keep him around, they could simply re-sign him after this season. Arizona did a very similar thing with Antonine Vermette, trading him to the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2015 trade deadline and proceeding to sign him in free agency.

In a radio interview with 630 AM Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are two teams interested in obtaining his services. Both teams are familiar with them, as the Coyotes are in the Pacific Division just like them. This could get interesting, as the Kings have a desperate need for a scoring center. However, the Sharks interest is a little interesting. They seemingly have their top three centers set. Perhaps their interest is just a mirage to try to get their division rivals to give up more?

After setting a career high with 41 points last season, Hanzal has struggled this season. He has just 15 points in 34 games, which is slightly below his production from last season. However. Hanzal is winning 53.9 percent of his faceoffs, making him an intriguing choice for any contender needing a center.

NHL Trade Rumors: Sharks, Kings among Martin Hanzal suitors

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