The Arizona Coyotes are currently carrying eight defencemen, with Ilya Lyubushkin often being left out of the starting line-up.
With the bid-bodied Russian often being left out of Rick Tocchet‘s starting six, questions should be asked as to what the team’s plans are, with Lyubushkin set to become a restricted free agent in the summer.
Lyubushkin joined the Coyotes last summer as an undrafted free agent out of the KHL, where he had racked up 257 regular season appearances for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
Since arriving in the desert, Lyubushkin has been a solid, physical presence along the blue-line, but has only managed to crack the line-up 38 times, registering four assists in the process.