Coyotes acquire Crouse, Bolland from Panthers for picks

The Coyotes had to take on the final three seasons of Bolland’s five-year, $27.5-million contract to add Crouse, the 11th pick in the 2015 draft.

“I think it’s great for Auston”, Babcock said Thursday during a Team Canada conference call.

He added, “Today’s transaction creates significant cap space for us in each of the next three National Hockey League seasons, while simultaneously giving us the ability to add more, good young players to a farm system we know we need to improve”.

Crouse, 6-feet-4 and 220 pounds, was the Panthers’ first-round (11th overall) draft pick in 2015 and was a teammate of Coyotes Max Domi and Anthony Duclair on Canada’s gold-medal winning World Junior Championship team in 2014-15.

“We have eight players in the tournament and I think it’ll be fun for all of them”.

The Coyotes acquired 19-year-old forward Lawson Crouse and Dave Bolland from the Florida Panthers in exchange for team’s conditional third-round draft choice in 2017 and a conditional second-round draft choice in 2018.

Chayka said he believes Crouse is close to being NHL-ready.

“We are very pleased to acquire Lawson”, Chayka said in a team release. The Panthers wanted out and used prospect Lawson Crouse, also drafted by Tallon, to shed the deal. The injury-prone forward registered just one goal and five points in 25 games a year ago before injuries ended his season and made him ineligible for a buyout. They also get a decent return for Crouse, whom their new front office did not like.

“Here’s a chance to get a guy, engage him in our group, grow with our young group here”, said Chayka. “We feel that those guys have a real good shot at being core pieces here for a long time”.

In Crouse’s 6-foot-4, 212-pound frame, Chayka brings size to a club now more focused on speed and skill in an effort to diversify the type of player the Coyotes are putting on the ice-the “portfolio theory”, he says.

Crouse will more than likely possess much more scoring ability than White, but their toughness will be an asset to the team’s possession statistics.

“He’s a unique guy”, Chayka said.

We may not know what motivated Chayka to pick up Bolland, but we do know what motivated the Panthers. “Now that I’ve had a couple of hours to think about it, I’m in a really good spot and I’m looking forward to showing them what I’m made of”.

Certainly, the Coyotes are making the most of theirs.