Radim Vrbata returns to the desert with one-year pact

Neil Parker

2016-08-16

Radim Vrbata - USA TODAY Sports Images

 

Fantasy Impact: The Arizona Coyotes officially signed winger Radim Vrbata to a one-year, $1 million contract Tuesday.

 

The Coyotes added a veteran winger with offensive capabilities who played six years with the organization, including the 2011-12 campaign where he notched a career-high 35 goals. However, the 35-year-old winger is coming off his worst seasons since 2008-09 with just 27 points and an underwhelming 47.9 CorsiFor percentage.

His 6.5 shooting percentage last season is due for improvement, so there is potential for a bounce-back campaign. Still, an uptick in efficiency might not bring him all the way back into fantasy relevance. It's going to take significant progression, and age-35 seasons aren't typically the ripe spot to mine for a rebound campaign.

 

Fantasy Players Impacted: The look of the Coyotes lineup is going to be one of the bigger mysteries leading into the season. Dylan Strome appears set for a top-six role following the Coyotes buying out Antoine Vermette, whereas fellow freshman Christian Dvorak will likely have a tougher shot at legitimate offensive minutes now that Vrbata is in the fold.

Where does Shane Doan slot in? When is Tobias Rieder going to sign?

Martin Hanzal, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Strome are top-six locks, but it leaves a complete guessing game for the other two slots. Vrbata and Dvorak could be the two candidates while Doan mans a third-line role with power-play time.

Arizona is certainly a team on the rise with a strong group of youngsters, and Vrbata doesn't necessarily block any of those younger players, he'll just potentially cut into a few of their chances. However, just because Vrbata starts the season in a scoring role doesn't mean he finishes the season in the top-six group, either. The power play is likely where Dvorak and Rieder will lose out, and that is a drain on their fantasy upside (for next season only).

📢 advertisement:

 

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Vrbata (see his stats, line combos and game logs here)

 

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Dvorak (read our scouting notes on Dvorak here)

2. Rieder (see his stats, line combos and game logs here)

3. Doan (see his stats, line combos and game logs here)

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

No data found.

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
CAM YORK PHI
MATIAS MACCELLI TOR
JACKSON LACOMBE ANA
MAXIM SHABANOV NYI
ZACH BENSON BUF

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
IVAN PROSVETOV CGY
THATCHER DEMKO VAN
PYOTR KOCHETKOV CAR
VADIM ZHERENKO STL
JAKUB DOBES MTL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency VAN Players
20.2 KIEFER SHERWOOD AATU RATY DAKOTA JOSHUA
19.6 MAX SASSON JAKE DEBRUSK BROCK BOESER
19.0 PIUS SUTER NILS HOGLANDER CONOR GARLAND

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Draftastic 2 – Q&A on the NHL Draft

Victor and Jesse are back in studio as Victor reports on his time at the NHL Draft and his outlook on fantasy rookie drafts. We discuss Michael Misa, Matthew Schaefer, Cole McKinney, Mason West, Milton Gastrin and Jacob Ihs-Wozniak with player audio. Victor also answers patron questions on which players you’ll want to target for […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Calgary Flames with Steve MacFarlane

Steve MacFarlane is here to report on the Calgary Flames. Jesse and Victor interview Steve about returning pros Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Yegor Sharangovich, Morgan Frost, Martin Pospisil, Joel Farabee, MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Zayne Parekh, Dustin Wolf, Dan Vladar, and Devin Cooley. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: