By Jordan Long
The Arizona Coyotes take on the Anaheim Ducks in their first preseason game from the Honda Center tonight. The Coyotes made a trade earlier this week in hopes of improving the blue line. They acquired defenseman Jason Demers from the Florida Panthers for left winger Jamie McGinn. According to ESPN, Coyotes General Manager John Chayka said, “We are very pleased to add Jason to our blue-line corps. Jason is a skilled right-handed shot defenseman who moves the puck well and has good offensive ability. He will be a great addition to our team.”
Demers is an offensive defenseman who will help the Coyotes, especially on special teams. On full strength situations Demers is able to block shots in the defensive zone. He can also knock opponents off the puck as well as poke checking the puck. When the Coyotes skate the puck into the offensive zone, he can use his slap shot to score goals. If Demers doesn’t score, he will find his teammates on the ice for easy goals near the goal line. He has a total of 37 goals and 134 assists for a total of 171 points.
Demers is going to be the quarterback and set up the power play. From there he is able to shoot the puck from the blue line. If Demers doesn’t take a shot he will pass it to his teammates for them to score goals. He has a total of 11 goals and 35 assists in his career on the man advantage.
When the Coyotes are shorthanded, Demers will use his body to block the puck from entering his goal. If he doesn’t block it, he can poke check the puck away and send it to the other end of the ice to take time off the clock. Demers has the ability to score shorthanded with a total of 1 shorthanded goal in his career.
The Coyotes must have felt their blue line was missing a scoring defenseman. With this trade for Demers, they now have that. He must be able to score goals for the Coyotes and gives them another dimension to the team that was missing last season.
What do you think of the Arizona Coyotes acquiring defenseman Jason Demers?
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