Khabibulin Traded to Tampa Bay

March 5, 2001

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - Phoenix Coyotes Executive Vice President and General Manager Cliff Fletcher announced today that the Coyotes have acquired defenseman Paul Mara, right wing Mike Johnson, right wing Ruslan Zainullin and a 2nd round draft choice in 2001 (previously acquired from the NY Islanders) from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and defenseman Stan Neckar.

Fantasy Impact: There are many who drafted Khabibulin quite highly in October hoping that his situation would be settled when the Gretzky-Ellman regime took over in the desert. Few expected it would take until early March, for a deal of some sort to get done. And even fewer probably expected Khabibulin's destination to be the Lightning. He will probably be on the chopping block. Although here's a thought - if you're in a keeper league, hang onto him at least until the end of the season. If you see any indication that he could be successful, it may be in your best interests to hang onto him. As for Johnson and Mara, these guys are, all of a sudden, commodities for both the rest of the regular season and playoff pools.