Friedman addresses Yandle trade speculation

Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 Monday morning.

On what’s going on in Arizona:

“Bruce Garrioch in his column had Keith Yandle’s name out there.

“I think Arizona is in a really tough spot. I spoke to Don Maloney right before the exhibition season began and he basically said, ‘We’ve made a commitment to Brandon Gormley. He’s going to be here.’ And they sent him down.

“And then I saw some quotes from Maloney saying, ‘We can’t afford to be a development team. We have to go for it.’

“And I get their situation because it’s Phoenix and they want to build momentum and missing the playoffs for a lot of years in a row is really tough for them. And for a long time, they’ve been better than the sum of their parts. And now you look and say, ‘Boy, maybe the idea of sort of stepping back and rebuilding might not be a bad decision.’ But I think it’s hard for them to do that in their situation.

“Yandle is interesting to me. Don Maloney has told the agent and he has said this quote to me too, when I asked him about it. He said, ‘If we ever trade Keith Yandle, you’re going to look at the trade and you’re going to understand why.’

“I think that’s a great quote and I think it’s the truth. He’s getting closer to UFA. I think he’s a UFA at the end of next season. They’ve got to look at it and say, ‘Are we going to keep him?’ Teams love Yandle. He’s going to be 29 years old when he’s a UFA.

“I’ve heard his name there, but I’ve heard it before. And the one thing I think the Coyotes realize – all of their offense is coming from Yandle and Ekman-Larsson. And I think they know if they make a Yandle deal – unless they get an enormous return, that probably means the end of their year.

“And I think it shows you where the Coyotes are right now guys, that they probably have to make a decision on how good they’re going to be. And if they deal him, that says to me – unless they get an offensive stud who can help them now – they’re probably doing it for futures. And I think it’s going to be a tough call for them because they know how important he is to their offense and it’s hard for them to generate offense.”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey