Wheeler turns down Yotes

The Phoenix Coyotes announced first rounder Blake Wheeler has turned down an entry level contract for free agency. Wheeler was a high school student in Minnesota when he was chosen with the 5th overall pick in the 2004 draft. He played three seasons with the University of Minnesota before deciding to forgo his last year of eligibility and turn pro...somewhere besides Phoenix.

"The last thing we want in our organization are people that don't want to be here, and the last thing we're going to do here is beg people to play for us," Maloney said.

"We are very happy with the compensatory pick we will receive for Blake not signing, which will be the fifth pick in the second round (of this year's draft). This is a very deep draft, and we now have five picks in the first two rounds, which is very exciting."

- Arizona Republic

Wheeler has pretty much been a bust considering his draft position. The Coyotes essentially get another shot at turning dust to gold with the compensatory pick.

The compensatory pick, however, caught my eye. WTF? Who's that pick coming from?

The league it turns out. They have up to 30 picks available for compensation in addition to the seven rounds of the draft. Per section 8.3(b) of the CBA:

In the event a Club loses its draft rights to an Unsigned Draft Choice drafted in the first round of the Entry Draft (except as a result of failing to tender a required Bona Fide Offer, who is again eligible for the Entry Draft or becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent, a Compensatory Draft Selection shall automatically be granted to that Club, which Compensatory Draft Selection shall be the same numerical choice in the second round in the Entry Draft immediately following the date the Club loses such rights. By way of example, if a Club cannot sign the third pick in the first round, it will receive the third pick in the second round as compensation.

So there's your CBA lesson for today. Compensation picks aren't just things Kevin Lowe gives ex-friend Brian Burke.

Just when things were looking up

Phoenix had won 4 of their last 5 games before starting a the scheduling anomaly that brought three games in a row against San Jose. I'm sure coach Wayne Gretzky hope to vault his team above .500 against a team that had gone 2-3 in that same span. The Sharks were barely holding on to their perch atop the Pacific division.

Instead, the Yotes managed to score just one goal during the three-game stretch and were shutout over eight consecutive periods. To add insult to injury, none of the games were even close. San Jose outscored Phoenix 15-1.

And I thought the Rangers had trouble scoring. In fact, New York has only scored one more goal than Phoenix this season. What a difference a little defense and goaltending makes.