Phoenix (AP) - The Phoenix Coyotes have made their first official deal of the offseason, and made it a big one by acquiring Marcus Naslund from the Tampa Bay Lightning. "This is the first time we have had a player the calibre of Naslund, we had a solid talented forward in Rod Brind'Amour but not a franchise player like Marcus Naslund is." The Coyotes also acquired the rights to Jamie Heward and Francis Bouillion and Future Considerations, the Coyotes now have a few weeks to try to work a deal with Heward and Bouillion before they become free agents. Tampa Bay in return will recieve winger Scott Walker, Defencemen Cory Sarich and Matt Jones along with a 6th round pick in 2007 and a conditional pick in 2009. "Walker was a great player, and he was the guy we expected to be our leading scorer next year, Sarich is solid and reliable defensively and Jones is projected to be a top 4 defenceman, so we gave up some commodities we liked, but we gained a very good player in return." As of right now Naslund would be looking at top line duties with Eric Belanger and Phil Kessel. The Coyotes now look forward to the 2007 Entry draft which is only 9 days away, The Coyotes own the 11th pick Overall along with carolina's pick which is 24th overall the Coyotes have alot to look forward to, but word is that they are still looking at moving their 11th overall pick.
