Coyotes Bring Back Vrbata

The Arizona Coyotes didn't want to keep the recycled Antoine Vermette around, but they are definitely okay with bringing Radim Vrbata back into the fold, as the two sides came to an agreement, which is believed to be a 1-year, $1 million deal, which will be a 35+ contract, eligible for bonuses.  Those bonuses have also been reported to be in the neighbourhood of $2.25 million, if the goals are met for them.

The deal was reported to be close on Monday and Tuesday, the announcement was made official from the team, ending the speculation.

The 35-year old didn't have the best of seasons with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016, certainly when you compare them to his career numbers.  In 63 games, the winger finished with 13 goals and 27 points, often not lining up on the 1st line, the role he was brought in to fill, which was very strange.

Nevertheless, he is moving back to some familiar territory and he will looked upon to help guide the team's youth movement.  The overall offense of this group does improve with the addition of Vrbata, but they are still in need of a top end centre to really get the best out of their wingers.  This will keep the overall projections down a little bit, but there have been some improvements to the goaltending, since the new offense could bring another win or two, in theory.

Player	Pos	16/17 Proj	Rookie
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	D	60	N
Mike Smith	G	55	N
Max Domi	F	45	N
Martin Hanzal	F	45	N
Radim Vrbata	F	45	N
Shane Doan	F	40	N
Anthony Duclair	F	40	N
Tobias Rieder	F	40	N
Louis Domingue	G	35	N
Jamie McGinn	F	35	N
Dylan Strome	F	35	Y
Michael Stone	D	35	N
Brad Richardson	F	30	N
Alex Goligoski	D	30	N
Jordan Martinook	F	20	N
Connor Murphy	D	20	N
Ryan White	F	15	N
Kevin Connauton	D	15	N
Luke Schenn	D	15	N
Klas Dahlbeck	D	10	N
Zbynek Michalek	D	10	N
Tyler Gaudet	F	5	Y
Jamie McBain	D	5	N
Jarred Tinordi	D	5	N

Even if Vrbata hits his targets for his bonuses, the Coyotes have more than enough cap space this season to facilitate them and not take any extra hits on next season's totals.  With the experienced winger on the books, the projected 25-man roster is now coming in with $5.3 million to spare under the ceiling.