Will Wheels Sign?

Blake Wheeler is still a Coyotes prospect. He hasn't decided what to do with his career yet. With all the talent pouring into the desert lately I really don't think it should be this much of a 'thang'.

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I don’t think its as simple as Wheels not wanting to come to Phoenix. The kid was still in high school when drafted, he is a prelockout draftee so he has lots more to consider.

If he returns to school he will be the captain of the squad and have his degree at the end as well as another full year to equalize his age and the chance of success.

If he goes pro with the Yotes he will seriously be fighting a whooole bunch of talent for a spot on a team that doesn’t have a whole lot more room for more rookies (ratio of rookies to vets has to be maintained for success). He is also most likely lookin at offers from DMGM of the new rookie max plus bonuses which is not as much as he could get elsewhere.

If he goes pro and doesn’t sign with the Yotes some other team would likely pick him up and since he would be UFA (prelockout rules/CBA) he could command more $$$ from another team. I don’t think he is limited to going back into the draft pool.

The good news is that either way he decides … the Yotes win!

If he doesn’t come to us, we get a 2nd round, 5th or so place pick to add to our other 6 picks in the first 3 rounds! So then we can trade a pick or two to move up in the draft without really impacting our cupboard stocking.

Or we could use a few picks to grab something sweet from another team in an off season trade, again without really impacting our ability to get some more talent for the future.

WIN WIN!