The Coyotes Stole Sean Durzi
The Sean Durzi trade is looking worse and worse for the Kings as more time goes on. When the trade first went down, I thought it was a home run deal for Arizona. As the 2023-24 NHL Season has progressed, it’s pretty obvious now that the Kings really screwed this one up.
Durzi, 25, is one pace for career highs during his first campaign in the desert. The right-shot D has 12 points in 20 games with Arizona and is on pace to smash his previous career high mark of 38 points from last year. He’s also leading the team in ice time with 23:35 minutes per game. Durzi has never been over 20 minutes before. The bigger workload appears to have only made Durzi more effective.
All the Kings got for Durzi is a flimsy second round pick. That’s where the team really made the mistake. It was one thing to trade Durzi. It’s another to dump him for a second round pick. Just a terrible return for a player like this. Especially one that could have been the primary puck moving D in LA right now. How scary would this Kings team be right now if you plugged Durzi back on that team? He would probably make their powerplay unit better too.
Durzi is also under a reasonable $2 million AAV this year before becoming a restricted free agent this Summer. It’s a figure the Kings could have easily fit under their books. The only thing clear now is that Durzi will for sure be more expensive on his next contract with the way he’s playing.
This is an important deal for the Coyotes because they’re in danger of losing their team. Wins are so important for that franchise right now. To get a real PP quarterback like this while only giving up a second round pick is a grand slam deal for that franchise. Credit to them for getting this one right.
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