The Arizona Coyotes have done the unthinkable, trading winger John Scott to the Montreal Canadiens just weeks before he was supposed to captain the Pacific Division team at the 2016 NHL All-Star Game.
Coyotes trade 2016 NHL All-Star captain John Scott to Canadiens
The All-Star Game has been plunged into chaos.
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The trade was part of a three-team deal that reportedly took “weeks” to put together. The Nashville Predators traded defenseman Victor Bartley to the Coyotes for defenseman Stefan Elliott. Then the Coyotes shipped Scott and Bartley to the Canadiens for defensemen Jarred Tinordi and Stefan Fournier.
Montreal wanted to get another contract off of the books and only Arizona could absorb it. https://t.co/MkoXPGqWnX
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) January 15, 2016
Scott has made headlines for the last two months after a joking, yet good-natured fan campaign propelled him into the All-Star Game as the captain of the Pacific Division squad and Arizona’s only representative. Scott has just 11 points in eight years in the NHL and is mostly known as an enforcer, so the thought of him playing in a 3-on-3 All-Star tournament was exciting. The Coyotes sent him to the AHL a few days ago but promised to bring him back up on Friday.
They did, and then they traded him.
Now that he's in the Atlantic Division, it's not clear whether he'll still be at the event at all since Jaromir Jagr is the captain of the team. Scott expressed excitement for the event earlier this week but noted that his wife is expecting twins on All-Star Weekend.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes pick up a 2010 first-round pick in defenseman Tinordi. Since making his NHL debut in 2012, Tinordi has shuffled between the minors and pros.
UPDATE: TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Scott was asked by both the NHL and the Coyotes to “bow out” of the All-Star Game.
John Scott was previously asked by both NHL and Arizona Coyotes to bow out of NHL All-Star Game. He refused. Trade likely takes care of that
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 15, 2016 The trade takes care of that because the Canadiens have already sent John Scott to the AHL, where he will be ineligible to participate in All-Star Weekend.
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