Arizona Coyotes centre Christian Dvorak has been sent to the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League, the team announced Monday.
The rookie has three assists in seven games and just two shots on goal.
Dvorak, 20, was a second-round pick of the Coyotes in 2014, and was a member of the 2016 Memorial Cup-winning London Knights while playing on a dominant line with Mitch Marner and Matthew Tkachuk.
Dylan Strome on the other hand, is still with the Coyotes despite being a healthy scratch for all but three games this season, though this move could potentially open up a spot in the lineup for the former Erie Otter.
General manager John Chayka said last week that he was “very excited” by Strome’s progress so far.
Arizona does not have the option to send Strome to Tucson like they did with Dvorak, but would rather have to send the 19-year-old to the OHL for a fourth season if Chayka felt Strome wasn’t ready for the NHL.
This is because players drafted out of the CHL (that were not on loan from another club as was the case with Buffalo’s Alexander Nylander, currently in AHL Rochester), must be sent back to junior if they can’t make an NHL roster before their age 20 season.
