The Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild got stronger down the middle, but it came at a steep cost.
The Wild acquired a pair of centers in 6-foot-6, 226-pounder Martin Hanzal and 6-foot, 200-pound Ryan White from the Arizona Coyotes for a haul of draft picks on Sunday night.
The 30-year-old Hanzal is one of the top two-way centers in the NHL while White, 28, adds depth to the bottom-six of the Wild.
“On behalf of the entire organization, we would like to thank Martin for all of his contributions to the Coyotes on and off the ice over the past 10 seasons,” said Coyotes general manager John Chayka in a release Sunday night. “We wish him the best of the luck in the future.”
The Wild, who also received Arizona’s fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, sent a first rounder this year, a second rounder next year, a conditional pick in 2019, and minor leaguer Grayson Downing to the Coyotes.
“I can assure you this was the top price in the market for Martin Hanzal,” Chayka said via Dave Vest of coyotes.com.
Arizona will also retain 50 percent of the prorated remainder of Hanzal’s $3.1 million salary for the season.
“This is a deal that I’ve worked on tirelessly … Minnesota clearly stepped up,” Chaka said.
As far as the conditional pick, according to reports, if the Wild win one playoff round this season, the conditional pick becomes a third rounder; if they win two rounds, it becomes a second rounder.
“It’s been a good 10 years, but I’m really looking forward to being in the playoffs and stepping on the ice to help Minnesota,” Hanzal told The Sports Xchange’s Craig Morgan in a phone interview.
Hanzal, a free agent after the season, said he has been expecting a trade for “the last two weeks” because the sides had not engaged in contract talks since the summer.
Hanzal has 16 goals and 10 assist this season after scoring 13 goals and a career-high 41 points in 64 games with the club last season. He spent his entire NHL career with the Coyotes franchise since being drafted 17th overall in 2005. He noted it is hard to say goodbye to longtime teammates Shane Doan and Czech countryman Radim Vrbata.
“He was like a second father to me,” Hanzal said of Doan. “He’s been helping me since Day 1.”
White, who will also be a free agent after this season, has seven goals and six assists and 70 penalty minutes in 46 games this season.
The 24-year-old Downing has seven goals and 14 assists in 46 games with AHL Iowa Wild. He will report to the Coyotes AHL squad.
“It’s a miserable feeling to be a seller at the deadline and it’s something that I never want to do again,” Chayka added.
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