Still Building In Phoenix

The Coyotes are likely going to be in Phoenix for quite some time now, which bodes well for the fans out in the desert. What also bodes well is the building of the franchise, as it seems like there is a little more urgency to be competitive in the 2010 season. The team has been building up their talent pools with some good young forwards and have now decided to add some veteran defensemen into the mix to help keep them in line. The signing of Adrian Aucoin and the deal for Jim Vandermeer should help that cause out quite a bit to start the year. The Coyotes also made a deal to bring back Radim Vrbata into the fold, which also brings some veteran flavour to the team on the forward lines.

Fantasy-wise, there isn't a great deal new to report. You'll still want to have Shane Doan, Ed Jovanovski and Ilya Bryzgalov on your list, but the depth of the team still carries a number of question marks as to where you want to take them in your fantasy draft.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Shane Doan	Ed Jovanovski	Ilya Bryzgalov
Matthew Lombardi	Adrian Aucoin	Jason LaBarbera
Peter Mueller	Keith Yandle
Martin Hanzal	Zbynek Michalek
Mikael Boedker	Kurt Sauer
Kyle Turris	Jim Vandermeer
Petr Prucha
Vern Fiddler
Viktor Tikhonov
Radim Vrbata

The fourth youngest team in the NHL at the moment, according to the team tables I've been putting on these updates, is also the second-lowest when it comes to cap hits at the moment. The Coyotes currently have 17 players signed on for next season at a cap cost of $37.3 million, still under the cap floor for the time being. Of course, with six players still to sign to make the 23-man roster, it should be no problem to come up onto the floor.

The Coyotes are awaiting to hear the results of the arbitration hearing for Daniel Winnik, which happened on Tuesday. I would imagine that would go well for the Coyotes. The team also has to deal with Scottie Upshall, who is a RFA this summer, as is the the newly-acquired Lauri Korpikoski. Between those three players, there should be no problem for the cap floor.