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One of the most unknown yet best young blue liners in the game is Zbynek Michalek. He spent much of last year playing with Jovanovski primarily as a defensive partner rather than in an offensive role.
He is a young guy who is learning how to be a solid defensive force on the blue line while also learning the offensive skills needed to become an effective puck moving defenseman. Hopefully he can move off the pairing with Jovanovski and show his abilities that he showed when playing his first few seasons with Keith Ballard, scoring 20+ points each year.
The last spot on defense is sort of a mystery. Matt Jones just signed a one way contract that could give him the spot if he can earn it. However, young defenseman Keith Yandle is certainly making a run at it. He played 43 games with Phoenix last year tallying 5 goals and 7 assists.
Not much right now but he has the skills to become a very good puck mover in the NHL someday and the Coyotes are counting on him to be that considering their lack of prospect depth on defense relative to the rest of the team (Chris Summers is a name you will be hearing soon).
He had some defensive lapses this past year but if he is paired with someone like David Hale who focuses on defense most of the time, then Yandle should be able to loosen up the grip on his stick and play a simpler game rather than trying to do too much at once.
The Coyotes certainly lost 2 big names on the blue line in Ballard and Boynton. Keith Ballard is a great young defenseman whose hip checks are second to none while Nick Boynton brought grit and a bit of an edge to the back end. But the additions of Sauer and Hale along with the growth of Michalek and Yandle, and the leadership of Morris and Jovanovski will be plenty to let this blue line really improve from last year and be an effective defense for the team to be supported on.
Things are really looking up in Phoenix.
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