I'd get it one piece at a time

And it wouldn't cost me a dime

--Wayne Kemp, "One Piece At A Time"

Don Maloney works under difficult circumstances. Since taking the job as General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes, Maloney has labored under a franchise wrapped in international drama. His owner went bust, a lecherous buyer appeared, made an exorbitant, undeniable bid and was sent away by the courts. A second buyer, a sports magnate, showed up but was also sent away after asking for too much in the way of concessions. The league took control of the team and made a shady, fallback, backroom deal with a foreign buyer. The NHL fought the city, worked with the city, fought again and worked with the city again and eventually gained an arena bailout for the franchise. The arena deal allowed a mysterious but wealthy owner to step forward and stabilize the situation. Now citizens are threatening to take the city to court for the deal with the team.

Throughout all of this, Maloney built a contender one piece at a time, one under-valued player at a time in a league where Colby Armstrong signed for $3,000,000 annually, Niclas Wallin signed for $2,500,000 for a year and Ethan Moreau was claimed on waivers. After the jump, a look at the bargain bin acquisitions behind Phoenix's rise to contention.

Maloney has carefully built and pruned his roster in order to fill needs on the cheap. He's added offense (Vrbata and Stempniak), defense (Fiddler and Korpikoski), well-rounded players (Upshall and Belanger) and role players (LaBarbera and Pyatt). He understands value in the marketplace and has managed to avoid paying any significant price for the parts. He's done this all on a limited budget with an uncertain future. He deserved the Executive of the Year award and might well land another one in 2011.