Report: Coyotes seeking a prospect, roster player in return for Vermette

The Arizona Coyotes are struggling - both on the ice, and financially. So it's no surprise that the club is expected to make some major changes in the very near future. 

General manager Don Maloney is reportedly working the telephones hard, and could kick-off something of a fire sale in the near future.

"The team that is being really aggressive when you talk to teams around the league is Arizona," reported TSN's Pierre LeBrun during an Insider Trading segment on Thursday. "They have a lot of players up for sale - it's rebuild time in the desert."

When the Coyotes do decide to start making deals, it seems likely that the two-way ace Antoine Vermette will be the first player traded. 

Vermette, 32, is a reliable play driver and one of the league's best face-off men, but he's also in the last year of his contract. The Coyotes simply may not have the means to sign a player who is poised to command top dollar on the unrestricted free agent market this summer.

"Antoine Vermette - as we've been saying - he's the guy who should be first out the door," LeBrun said. "(The deal won't happen) probably not until the new year, but (there's) a lot of suitors, a lot of talking. He's a guy that's going to help a team."

LeBrun's colleague Darren Dreger shed some additional light on the Coyotes' asking price in a potential Vermette deal.

"The Coyotes are telling teams that are interested in Antoine Vermette - and there are many - that they need a good young prospect, and a roster player in return," Dreger said.

That's a steep ask for a 32-year-old forward on an expiring contract, but it seems likely that Arizona will net a massive bounty in a potential deal. After all, short of drafting and developing them or overpaying for them in free agency, it's nearly impossible to find centermen of Vermette's caliber.