Reinprecht Traded to Panthers

The Coyotes unloaded a potential unrestricted free agent on Friday, in order to pick up the rights to a restricted free agent. Phoenix sent Steve Reinprecht to the Panthers for 23-year old forward, Stefan Meyer, in a minor deal. There was a really good chance that the Coyotes were not going to go out and pay Reinprecht this summer, despite only making $2 million last year. Meyer, a 2nd round pick in '05, played in 4 games in 2008 without registering a point. He'll join a pretty young team, which will be cost-efficient in Phoenix.

			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Phoenix	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Stefan Meyer	F	23	0	0	RFA
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			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Florida	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Steve Reinprecht	F	33	73	41	UFA

With the Coyotes in financial trouble, it doesn't make a lot of sense to possibly keep veteran talent around when you can easily pick up a two-way contract that won't hurt the team, cap-wise, if the player is sent down to the minors. The Panthers do get themselves a quality forward to add to their mix and it should come at a reasonable cost as well. This is a good move for them going forward.