SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coyotes captain Shane Doan was so upset Monday that he didn't speak to the media for the first time that anyone who has covered the team for any length of time could remember.
In the span of three days, two of his closest friends on the team and a popular teammate were traded as the Coyotes began their rebuilding project in earnest with a trio of trade-deadline moves that shipped out veterans Antoine Vermette, Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek.
"It's a difficult couple days for Shane because he sees the good in everybody," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said at a post-trade deadline press conference. "He's very tight with Keith Yandle and Antoine Vermette, specifically. There's no secret what we're doing. We haven't brought back proven NHL players."
By numerous accounts, the return for traded veterans at this year's deadline was high across the league. Maloney said Monday that his acquisitions were better than he expected and a glance around the web at the trade-deadline grades agrees with him. Arizona earned almost universal praise.
But we're not here to hand out high marks or applause. Let's call trade deadline grades what they are: silly. There are no verdicts yet and there won't be for a few years. Nobody knows who did well and who didn't.
That doesn't mean, however, that Arizona's deadline moves didn't create the potential for optimism. They did, and here are three reasons.
First, the Coyotes have finally acknowledged what virtually everyone saw in training camp. This roster was not good enough to compete for a playoff spot. It wasn't even good enough to compete on many nights.
By voicing a three-to-five-year rebuilding plan, Maloney and the team's ownership have admitted that in order to get this thing right, the Coyotes have to reboot. There will be no quick fixes or quick turnarounds. It takes courage to admit that, especially in a difficult market.
"I know people may not want to hear it because we've been trying to scrape and claw and get in the playoffs," Maloney said. "But you're not going to be Chicago. You're not going to be Detroit. You're not going to be L.A. that has a chance to win every year. You have to get top players and once you're there you have to pay your players, but until you're there, I think it's throwing good money after bad."
That's a big reason the Coyotes chose not to re-sign the 32-year-old Vermette. In hindsight, it's probably a good reason not to re-sign 33-year-old Radim Vrbata, even if he wasn't asking for a raise last summer.
There will be a time for the Coyotes to fill in the cracks with good veterans, and they'll need some around to teach the pups how to play. For now, however, the plan is to run young and lean while acquiring, developing and showcasing skill.
To get there, Maloney knew he would have to spend money in the short term. With so many teams bumping up against the salary cap ceiling this season, and the cap not expected to rise as much as originally expected next season, several teams couldn't make deadline-day deals without a trade partner that was willing to retain salary.
From left, the Coyotes hope to retool with John Moore, Anthony Duclair and Klas Dahlbeck, among others.
To ownership's credit, it stepped up twice in three days, retaining 50 percent of Yandle's and Michalek's salaries to allow the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues to complete deals. Maloney would have dealt veteran Martin Erat as well, but the Coyotes are still paying a portion of Chicago defenseman David Rundblad's salary through the end of this season and NHL rules only allow three retained salaries per season.
"I know we may not be the highest-spending team right now, but I really do think (ownership is) taking an intelligent approach that we have to build this from the base up," Maloney said.
DUCKS (40-17-7) at COYOTES (20-36-7)
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
Season series: Coyotes lead, 2-1
Injuries: Arizona -- F Mikkel Boedker (splenectomy) and C Martin Hanzal (back surgery) are out for the season. Anaheim: F Matt Beleskey (shoulder), D Sami Vatanen (leg) and F Tim Jackman (lower body) are on injured reserve. D Sheldon Souray (torn right wrist ligament) is out for the season.
Quick facts: It was a busy trade deadline for the Ducks, who acquired D James Wisniewski, D Simon Despres, D Korbinian Holzer, F Jiri Sekac, F Michael Sgarbossa, F Tomas Fleischmann and a pair of draft picks while parting with D Ben Lovejoy, D Eric Brewer, F Rene Bourque, F Devante Smith-Pelly, F William Karlsson, F Dany Heatley and three picks. The idea was to make the Ducks a faster, more skilled team with a deeper, more mobile defense. … Anaheim leads the Pacific Division by 12 points over Vancouver. … Ryan Getzlaf leads the Ducks and is tied for eighth in the NHL in points with 61 (20 goals).
"You hate to be paying so much out for something that's not here but when you look long-term and what it got us, it's the right decision. It's not signing a 32-year old unrestricted free agent to multi-millions of dollars. This is an investment in our future."
Now about that future. As noted earlier, there are no guarantees that the Coyotes' deadline moves will pan out. Many experts are high on prospect Anthony Duclair, who came over in the Rangers deal. He has dynamic potential; he put up ridiculous numbers last season in the QMJHL and he looked awfully good alongside Max Domi at the World Junior Championship. But he's still a junior player with little pro experience. Nobody knows if his game will translate at the next level.
Klas Dahlbeck probably should have been playing in Chicago this season over Rundblad. There are many in the Blackhawks organization that were high on him, and apparently other teams felt the same way since they inquired about him after Maloney acquired him. But he has just four games of NHL experience.
The key here is that both players have been added to an ever-increasing stockpile of interesting prospects that also includes Brendan Perlini, Domi, Christian Dvorak, Ryan MacInnis, Laurent Dauphin and Maxim Letunov, who arrived Monday. And now the Coyotes also have a stockpile of draft picks.
In this June's draft, a deep one by most accounts, the Coyotes have two first-round picks, one of which will likely be in the top four and could be in the franchise-changing top two. They also have two second-round picks and likely two third-round picks, provided they keep the conditional one they sent to St. Louis on Monday.
In 2016, they have two first-round picks.
The NHL Draft is always a gamble, as are the prospects that come from it, but the more you have, the better your odds of hitting on one or two game-changers. In that respect, Maloney did his job. Now he and the Coyotes' scouts must make sure they spend the picks wisely while hoping Duclair and Dahlbeck make the grade.
"I think we're going to be a lot more fun to watch next year," Maloney said. "We will be younger but we'll be looking at more skill in our lineup.
"To me, this is a day of hope and opportunity and excitement for this franchise. If you really look three-four years down the road you can see the makings of a winner here."
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