David Moss could only laugh when the subject turned to timing. Moss’s timing hasn’t been ideal the past two seasons.

Last year, he and his wife, Erinn, scheduled their wedding for July, just after he became an unrestricted free agent whose NHL future wasn’t certain.

This season, he’s scored 75 percent of his current goal total after the Coyotes were officially eliminated from playoff contention. And this summer, the Mosses will welcome their first child in August, one month after he becomes an unrestricted free agent yet again.

"Obviously, we want to be stateside for her pregnancy and hopefully we can be, but this summer will be kind of similar to last summer," Moss said. "I’m sure we’ll be pretty stressed out. You have to be patient, but it’s easier to say that and harder to do it."

Last summer, Moss signed a two-year contract with a Swiss club that included a one-week out clause if he could find an NHL team. Moss said he had offers from other NHL clubs but was waiting to hear from the Coyotes. When they offered a one-year, $800,000 deal, he took it because he wanted to stay in the Valley, where he had spent the past two seasons after six seasons in Calgary.

"His greatest value comes in (that) he does a lot of things well to protect leads," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. That being said, those kind of players’ value goes way up when you have leads to protect. We’ve been on the short end of that this year, hence his value has been lessened."

Moss, 33, impacts the game in ways that don’t show up on the scoresheet — killing penalties, shutting down opposing forwards, making smart, simple plays. But he struggled to produce this season at a time when the Coyotes needed production from everyone. Moss has four goals and 11 points, but he had just one goal and six points through the first four months of the season.

"When you don’t have real top guys leading the charge, it magnifies how little the other guys have done," said Tippett, whose team is 29th in the NHL in scoring with 169 goals. "Goal-scoring wise, we haven’t been very good this year right through our lineup."

The Coyotes’ trade-deadline purge and injuries to forwards such as Mikkel Boedker and Martin Hanzal have given Moss greater opportunity the last two months. He has three goals and four points in his last seven games. He’s also given the Coyotes a much-needed net-front presence, particularly on the power play, that has produced goals and chances, even when Moss didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

COYOTES (24-48-8) at CANUCKS (46-29-5) When: Thursday, 7 p.m. Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, B.C. TV: FOX Sports Arizona Season series: Vancouver leads, 2-1-1 Injuries: Arizona — RW Mikkel Boedker (splenectomy) and C Martin Hanzal (back surgery) are out for the season. F Lauri Korpikoski (mouth) is doubtful. F Shane Doan (lower body) is day to day. Vancouver — G Ryan Miller (knee) has resumed skating and hopes to play before the regular season ends. Brad Richardson (ankle) and Zack Kassian (back) are out indefinitely. Quick facts: With L.A.’s loss in Edmonton on Tuesday, the Canucks clinched the franchise’s 27th all-time postseason berth. … Forward Radim Vrbata leads Vancouver in goals with 31. It is the second time Vrbata has topped 30 goals in his career. He set a career-high with 35 for the Coyotes n 2011-12. … Vancouver is trying to secure home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series. The Canucks lead the Flames by two points and are tied in ROW (40), but the Flames won the season series, five points to four.

"It makes it so that every shot has a chance to go in," captain Shane Doan said. "Mosser’s been amazing at it."

Moss is well liked and respected in the Coyotes’ locker room — a player known for his affability. He will get a better read on his future during exit interviews with the coaching staff and GM Don Maloney, but with the Coyotes in rebuilding mode and Tippett’s comments about Moss’s value as backdrop, it seems likely he’ll be hunting for a new team next season — in the NHL or abroad.

"He’s a good veteran player, but when you have a year like we’ve had, everything is up for examination and everything is up for change," Tippett said. "That’s just the way it is."

The Coyotes announced Wednesday that forward Henrik Samuelsson was recalled on an emergency basis from the Portland Pirates.

The 21-year-old Samuelsson, a first-round pick in 2012, has appeared in two games with the Coyotes this season. He has 14 goals and 21 assists for Portland in 65 games.

Laurent Dauphin’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens were eliminated in the first-round of the QMJHL playoffs last weekend, so the Coyotes’ center prospect was scheduled to report to Portland of the AHL on Wednesday. It is unclear how much ice time Dauphin will see with the Pirates trying to qualify for the playoffs.

Portland dropped its fourth consecutive game (and seventh in its last nine), when it fell to Worcester in overtime on Tuesday. The Pirates are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Springfield. Portland has two games in hand on Springfield and can clinch a playoff berth with eight points in its final six games.

There were no major surprises when NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings of NHL Draft prospects on Wednesday.

Centers Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were the top players, with defenseman Sean Hanifin, center Ryan Strome and wing Lawson Crouse rounding out the top five. The Brandon Wheat Kings’ Ivan Provorov was the second-rated defenseman, although some NHL executives think he may be a better prospect than Hanifin.

The NHL Draft will be held on June 26-27 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. You can view the Central Scouting rankings here.

With Edmonton’s win over the L.A. Kings on Tuesday, Arizona is guaranteed to finish no higher than 29th in the 30-team NHL standings. That means they will draft either first, second or third.

The Coyotes lead Buffalo by two points with two games to play. Buffalo would still finish last if the teams finished tied in the standings because the Coyotes have four more regulation/overtime wins. That is the first tiebreaker in the season-ending standings.

If the standings remain as they are now, Arizona would have a 13.5 percent chance of drafting first, a 20 percent chance of drafting second and a 66.5 percent chance of drafting third.

The NHL Draft Lottery will be held April 18.

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