“He's a great young man who loves to play the game,” former head coach Wayne Gretzky once said about the now-21 year old. “He's good with the puck. We're happy with his progress and production.”
Mueller has seen quite the decline in offensive numbers this season, despite his team having a collective great year. His 17 points in 54 games are less than impressive, especially when compared to his numbers the past two seasons (54 points in 2007-08 and 36 points in 2008-09).
Wolski, on the other hand, is having a decent season in Colorado. His 47 points ranked him second on the Avalanche before being traded. His speed and puck-handling ability will add to an already strong Phoenix offense.
Most critics feel that this trade sways in the way of Phoenix, but I'm going to have to be in the minority. I think that Mueller is still a top young player in the league. He may have skipped over his sophomore slump and is just seeing it in his third year, which could mean Mueller will pick his game up fairly soon. Wolski is a strong second-line player that adds skill, but can be lackadaisical when coming back to his own zone. Mueller is a responsible player who is having an off-season but has plenty of time left in his young career to fix his mistakes.
Keywords: kevin porter, peter mueller, phoenix coyotes, wayne gretzky, wojtek wolski
