Martin Hanzal re-signs with the Phoenix Coyotes

Hulking center Martin Hanzal agreed to a two-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, mainly because he had no choice.  Well, like most RFAs his choice was either to stay with the team or play in the dregs of Europe.

At 23-years-old Hanzal broke 30 points for the third time in his career.  However, unlike the two previous years he raised his PIMs up to 104.  He also finished the year for the first time not as a minus player and posted career highs in shots and games played.  All signs seem to point up for this Czech native.

We like Hanzal, but in no way does his game translate to a full-time gig on my fantasy team.  He needs to probably double his annual scoring output to actually be fantasy relevant as a center regardless of his PIMs. With his role as a second/third liner and putting up a better faceoff percentage (50.6%) than Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Spezza or Derek Roy we see him sticking with his Czech-mates in a perfect complementary line.

A slight increase in production could happen as Hanzal continues to establish himself as a two-way beast but expect nothing more than that for all fantasy purposes.