At the Rink: Flames at Coyotes

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes get one forward back but will be without their captain Thursday against the Calgary Flames.

Forward Shane Doan won't play after he was hit by a slap shot from Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. Doan gutted through two periods, scoring the game-tying goal in the second, before finally leaving in the third of a 3-2 loss.

Center Martin Hanzal returns after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 3. Hanzal tied a career high with four points against Columbus.

Meanwhile, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney has begun the process of re-tooling his team, faced with the prospect of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a third straight season.

Forward Brandon McMillan and defenseman Chris Summers cleared waivers Tuesday and are eligible to be sent down to the minors for impending roster moves. And Wednesday, Maloney traded Devan Dubnyk to the goaltending-starved Minnesota Wild for a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

The trade made sense for the Coyotes. Dubnyk made $800,000 on a one-year contract and played very well (2.72 goals-against average, .916 save percentage) on an Arizona team that has allowed 139 goals in 42 games. The Coyotes need high-priced Mike Smith to play himself out of a season-long slump beginning Thursday against the Flames.

"It's an organizational trade to try to get an asset moving forward," Tippett said. "Dubnyk played very well for us. Mike is going to play a lot and hopefully he goes in there and plays very well. We want him to play better."

The Coyotes have recalled goalie Michael Lee from the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL to back up Smith. Arizona has two goalies in Portland who will be ready shortly.

More changes are ahead. Defenseman Philip Samuelsson, acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last month, will make his Coyotes debut Thursday, becoming the seventh Arizona player not on the opening night roster to play his first game with the organization. The Coyotes have several other impending unrestricted free agents, from defenseman Zbynek Michalek to forwards Martin Erat and Antoine Vermette, who could be attractive to contenders before the NHL Trade Deadline passes.

"We talked to the players today about controlling what you can control, which is the effort you put in on the ice," Tippet said. "The off-ice stuff you can't control."

Here are the projected lineups:

FLAMES

Curtis Glencross - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler

Johnny Gaudreau - Mikael Backlund - David Jones

Lance Bouma -- Drew Shore – Joe Colborne

Brandon Bollig - Matt Stajan - Paul Byron

Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie

Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman

Ladislav Smid - Deryk Engelland

Joni Ortio

Jonas Hiller

Scratched: Raphael Diaz, Mason Raymond, Markus Granlund

Injured: Sam Bennett (shoulder surgery), Josh Jooris (upper body), Karri Ramo (upper body)

COYOTES

Sam Gagner – Martin Hanzal -- Mikkel Boedker

Lucas Lessio – Antoine Vermette - Martin Erat

Tobias Rieder – Kyle Chipchura – David Moss

Brandon McMillan – Joe Vitale – Lauri Korpikoski

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone

Keith Yandle – Connor Murphy

Philip Samuelsson – Zbynek Michalek

Mike Smith

Michael Lee

Injured: Shane Doan (lower Body) (upper body), Brandon Gormley (lower body)

Scratched: B.J. Crombeen, Chris Summers

Status report: The Flames recalled Shore from Adirondack of the American Hockey League and he will play on a line with Bouma and Colborne. … The Coyotes placed Gormley on injured reserve to make room for Hanzal's return. Gagner, Hanzal and Boedker were producing well before Hanzal's injury.

Who's hot: Boedker has four goals on five shots in the past three games for Arizona. … The Flames have won all three games against Arizona this season by a combined score of 13-5. … Hiller is 21-6-3 with two shutouts, a 2.49 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 31 games against Arizona, the most wins he has against any NHL team.