{"id":16160,"date":"2017-09-18T16:33:31","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T20:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=16160"},"modified":"2017-09-18T16:33:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T20:33:31","slug":"panthers-trade-jason-demers-coyotes-jamie-mcginn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/09\/18\/panthers-trade-jason-demers-coyotes-jamie-mcginn\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Panthers Trade Jason Demers to Arizona Coyotes For Jamie McGinn"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a bit of a surprising move today, the Florida Panthers<\/a> sent defenseman Jason Demers<\/a><\/strong> to the Arizona Coyotes<\/a> in exchange for Jamie McGinn<\/a><\/strong>. No other assets were exchanged and Florida is retaining 12.5% of Demers’ annual salary.<\/p>\n

Panthers Trade Jason Demers to Coyotes For Jamie McGinn<\/h1>\n

The Panthers have shredded lots of salary this offseason and have let some pretty good players go away for absolutely nothing. They let 30 goal scorer Jon Marchessault<\/a><\/strong> and Reilly Smith<\/a><\/strong> go for nothing to Las Vegas and now traded another one of their good players for not so much in return. The Coyotes now have another good top four defensemen to put in the lineup this season. Demers will join Alex Goligoski<\/a><\/strong>, Oliver Ekman-Larsson<\/a><\/strong>, and Niklas Hjalmarsson<\/a><\/strong> to round out what’s going to be a solid top four for the Coyotes.<\/p>\n

Demers appeared in 81 games last year for the Panthers and had nine goals and 28 points. That’s the second most points he’s had in a season as he had 34 points in the 2013-2014 season with the Sharks<\/a>. His CF% took a big dive last season though as it was just 48.8% compared to 54.1% the previous season with the Stars. Arizona is trying to get back in the playoff picture and this move only makes them better for the future.<\/p>\n

As for the Panthers, Jamie McGinn is coming back in return and he only had nine goals and 17 points last year for Arizona despite missing 10 games. His CF% of 45.2% also wasn’t great last season but that comes as no surprise considering the Coyotes weren’t a good team. He’ll likely be a top-nine forward for the Panthers if he stays healthy. He has a history of injuries during his career.<\/p>\n

There was also a reported nixed trade before this one went through as the Demers nixed a trade to the Canucks<\/a> in exchange for Erik Gudbrandson according to George Richards of the Miami Herald:<\/p>\n

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Dale Tallon tried sending Jason Demers to Vancouver to get Erik Gudbranson back but Demers turned deal down. Has a modified NTC. pic.twitter.com\/N4qf0gpRht<\/a><\/p>\n

— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) September 17, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n