SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Coyotes completed their long-expected trade deadline overhaul by shipping popular defenseman Zbynek Michalek and a 2015 conditional third-round draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for young forward Maxim Letunov on Monday, the NHL's official deadline.
Arizona retained 50 percent of Michalek's pro-rated $4 million salary for the rest of the season, after which he will become an unrestricted free agent. Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said the third-round pick will only go to the Blues if Michalek cannot return to action due to his concussion issues, which have sidelined him since Feb. 14.
Michalek said Monday that he was ready to return to the ice anyway, so the Coyotes likely will keep that pick.
Michalek played for the Coyotes from 2005-2010 then rejoined the team in a trade with Pittsburgh in 2012. He endeared himself to the Valley with his willingness to sacrifice his body to block shots, where he still ranks 12th in the NHL with 130 despite missing time.
He has played 539 of his 696 career NHL games with the Coyotes. Both he and his agent, Allan Walsh, have said he is open to returning to the Coyotes in the offseason.
"I thought of all the deals we made, his injury impacted our return," said Maloney, who agreed to the deal with St. Louis late Sunday. "He's a good player. He's going to be terrific for St. Louis provided he gets healthy, which we're convinced he'll do.
"But we do like the prospect. Max Letunov is a tall, lanky center iceman. He's intelligent. He's like a buck 70 (referring to his weight). He needs to fill out and get stronger.
The 19-year-old Letunov has 22 goals and 53 points in 47 games with Youngstown of the USHL this season, good for third in the league in points. The 6-foot-3, 168-pound native of Moscow was originally drafted by the Blues in the second round (52nd overall) in 2014.
Maloney said the Coyotes were going to select Letunov with their second-round pick last season but St. Louis grabbed him first so the Coyotes took Christian Dvorak.
"He's a long-term (prospect) like (Coyotes 2014 second-round pick) Ryan MacInnis," Maloney said, noting that the Coyotes have adopted a long-needed policy. "Let's over-acquire center icemen because we're never going to win if we don't address our center ice."
In a separate deal before Monday's 1 p.m. deadline, the Coyotes acquired goaltender David Leggio from the New York Islanders in exchange for defenseman Mark Louis.
Leggio posted a 7-13 record with a 3.93 goals against average and a .861 save percentage in 23 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) this season. He is a depth signing.
The Coyotes also picked up two forwards via waivers on Monday: Tye McGinn from the Sharks and Craig Cunningham from the Bruins. Maloney expects both to report to the team on Tuesday.
McGinn has played in 33 games with the Sharks this season, posting one goal and five points. He was drafted by the Flyers in the fourth round (119th overall) in 2010.
Cunningham had two goals and an assist in 32 games with the Bruins this season. He's also played 21 games in the American Hockey League and was selected by Boston in the fourth round (97th overall) in 2010.
Maloney said the team was also pursuing a trade for forward Martin Erat, who was willing to waive his no-move clause, but the team could not retain any more salary because it had reached its per-season maximum of three players by retaining salaries for traded players Michalek, Keith Yandle and David Rundblad, whose contract with Chicago expires this season.
Salary retention was critical to a host of playoff teams this season because so many are close to the salary cap ceiling.
The Michalek trade followed deals that shipped Antoine Vermette to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and Yandle to the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck, who came over in the Chicago deal, and defenseman John Moore, who came from the Rangers, both practiced with the team at the Ice Den on Monday.
Moore, 24, was Columbus' first-round pick (21st overall) in 2009, but hasn't been able to live up to his draft status.
"Success certainly isn't linear but everything you go through is going to make you stronger," said Moore, who has eight goals and 35 points in 211 NHL games. "It's been a tough year for me, battling to get minutes in New York, but I believe in myself and this is a tremendous opportunity."
Dahlbeck may be the most underappreciated pick-up at the deadline. The Blackhawks were high on him, but had a logjam of defensemen on one-way contracts, making it difficult for him to earn a spot.
"One of the people I spoke to (about Dahlbeck) was Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and I respect his opinion very highly," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of his former teammate. "He really likes this player. I don't think that's a player they wanted to get rid of. He's a big strong defenseman, which is something we need."
He'll join an extremely young defensive corps that also includes Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23), Michael Stone (24), Connor Murphy (21), Andrew Campbell (27), Moore (24) and Brandon Gormley (23).
The Coyotes roster stands at 21. The team is expected to elect new alternate captains on Tuesday, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, David Moss, Kyle Chipchura Martin Erat and Lauri Korpikoski among the possibilities.
Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter
