GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Martin Erat didn't wait long to wipe the slate clean after a disastrous 2013-14 season.
"Right after the last horn, I said it never happened," Erat said Wednesday after recording a goal and an assist in the Coyotes' 7-4 win over the Oilers. "I'm actually happy it happened to me because I learned from it. I don't want to let it happen again. I'm trying to work that much harder to be a different player on the ice."
Not a lot went right for Erat in 53 games with the Washington Capitals and 17 with the Coyotes after his trade-deadline acquisition. He had three goals and 29 points overall, his lowest totals for a full NHL season.
There were plenty of mitigating circumstances. He often was relegated to a fourth-line role in Washington -- when he was in the lineup at all. The Capitals' free-wheeling style wasn't a good fit and when he arrived in Phoenix he got hurt almost immediately, missed three games and never felt quite right.
But the biggest issue after the trade was one few fans knew about. He missed his wife, Vera, his son, Sebastian, and his newborn daughter, Victoria, who did not come to the Valley with him.
"It's hard when you're coming from somewhere and your little girl is born and you don't see her for three months," Erat said. "It was kind of a hard season for me but it's all behind me. I don't look in the past."
The Coyotes hope so. While last season was the anomaly in Erat's career stats (he averaged between 49 and 58 points for seven straight seasons in Nashville ), he is 33, an age at which some players start to show a decline in production and ability. The Coyotes are on the hook for half of his $4.5 million salary in the final year of his contract (Washington is paying the other half), but Maloney believes Erat can be a bargain rather than a burden at that price.
COYOTES VS. BLUES
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
Injuries: Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (hip) won't play. The Coyotes reported no significant injuries.
Quick facts: The Blues made a big offseason splash by signing free-agent center Paul Stastny (Colorado) to a four-year, $28 million deal. Stastny leads the Blues with four points (one goal) through three games while defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has three assists. ... Jake Allen is expected to start in goal for the Blues. ... Mike Smith will likely start in goal for the Coyotes.
"We actually watched him very closely and we thought he still skated well and did a lot of the things we were looking for," Maloney said. "We thought last season was an aberration."
There are early indications that Maloney and the scouting staff may have been correct. Aside from the three points he has in three games, several other areas of Erat's game look strong.
"Looking at Martin's history, mostly with Nashville, and the way he played at that time, we thought he would be an ideal fit in our system because he does play with tempo and he is hard on the puck and he is courageous in the corners," Maloney said. "Three games is not a lot to judge but what I've seen is a rejuvenated player with some jump back in his stride who's been able to make plays."
When you play among the top six forwards, as Erat is doing on a line with center Martin Hanzal and rotating wings, you have to do more than that, however. You have to produce.
"We're not talking 60-plus points and replacing Ray Whitney," Maloney said. "But I think it's realistic that maybe we can get 40 to 50 points.
"I don't know if it's a confidence thing to believe he can score, but he will defer to other players if at all possible. We'd like to see him shoot a little more when opportunities present themselves."
Erat said he is feeling more comfortable in his reads and communication with Hanzal than he was last season. That's one of many reasons he's ready to resume his normal production and style of play.
"Everybody's worrying about what happened last season but it's a different season for me," he said. "If you want to compare my games you have to look at the last eight years before that."
Or maybe the small sample size he's put forth this season, including a preseason game in Vancouver where he drove possession and made plays that didn't show up in the box score but did catch the attention of assistant Newell Brown.
"He told me in Vancouver, 'you played the best game you've played here in Phoenix,'" Erat said, before offering his response. "It wasn't hard. Last year, I didn't play one good game."
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