Arizona, Armstrong Confidently Quiet at Trade Deadline

"They have earned my respect," Armstrong said of his Coyotes, shortly after the trade deadline passed and Armstrong had passed on it.
In the weeks leading up to Monday afternoon's trade deadline, General Manager Bill Armstrong said the team's performance would dictate his strategy.
The Coyotes are contending -- and that caused Armstrong to stand pat. He said the current players earned "the right" to fight for playoff spot. That kept him from pulling the trigger on any trades.
Arizona currently sits one point out of the final West Division playoff position with 14 games remaining.

"Our group has really done a great job," Armstrong continued. "Especially over the last month. I felt like they deserved the right … to stay together."

Armstrong also was not keen on surrendering assets, especially with previous moves that depleted the team's future draft selections.
"You can get involved in the deadline and just make deals to make deals," Armstrong said. "But they're not going to move you forward as an organization, whether it be in the playoffs or next year when the season starts. You pay a price."
The phones were busy, Armstrong said, but in the end, there wasn't much interest in what the other sides were offering.
If it weren't for internal support from taxi squad players and call-ups from the AHL Tucson Roadrunners, the trade deadline may have looked very different to Armstrong.
Armstrong cited the play of goalie Adin Hill, who has started 10 straight games, softening the blow of losing Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta for extended periods of time. He also has praised the play of forward Michael Bunting, on multiple occasions. Bunting has five goals in seven games since being recalled from the Roadrunners on March 26 and activated from the taxi squad a day later.
"You've got to remember that he's added some goals into our lineup," Armstrong said. "That has been a pleasant surprise. He's played really, really well. If he hadn't jumped in there, we would have had to go out (in the market) and look to add some goals. We've been fortunate. We've had some internal players come up for us and add some life. So, we didn't have to pay a price at the trade deadline."

Bunting is on a list of notable unrestricted free-agent Coyotes who will hit the market this summer. The others: Derick Brassard, Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Ilya Lyubushkin, Jordan Oesterle and Antti Raanta.
Armstrong feels the free agent market better suits the organization's needs.
"I feel in the summer, there will be a better way for us as an organization to move forward and not pay the steep price," Armstrong said. "You might sometimes overpay in dollar amounts, but you're not giving up your draft picks and other assets to acquire those players. So, for us and how we're moving, the plan that's in place to move forward, you really have to look at the free agent market and try and grab some players."
As for now, he wants the current group to embrace the moment and possibilities.

"Pressure is a great thing when you're developing your team," Armstrong said. "I've always felt, when you're coming down the stretch, those teams that are under pressure that succeed, sometimes steal a first round (series win). You never know.
"When you're under the pressure every night to get in, and you're in the grind, you kind of get used to that. It kind of forms a tougher, harder team -- and I think this is either going to make us or break us, this month down the stretch, with the pressure, with St. Louis coming up, Minnesota coming up, and a chance to get some points. It's going to be a battle, but that pressure is what defines your group in the end.
"If we could let that pressure make us a lot better and achieve and get into the playoffs, I think it would show our fans -- it would say something about our core too, our core of young players that are coming."

Lead Photo Credit: Kelsey Grant - Arizona Coyotes // Second Photo Credit: Kelsey Grant - Arizona Coyotes // Third Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo - NHLI via Getty Images // Fourth Photo Credit: Debora Robinson - NHLI via Getty Images // Footer Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman - Getty Images