General manager Don Maloney shored up the Coyotes defense and added size and toughness in the early stages of free agency, signing forwards Brian McGrattan and Todd Fedoruk and defenseman Kurt Sauer.

McGrattan will take over the main enforcer role from undersized Daniel Carcillo, who led the NHL in penalty minutes last season. The 6-foot-4, 234-pound right wing joked that Carcillo now "can stir things up a bit, and I'll finish it off for him."

In the past three seasons, McGrattan's PIM have dropped (141, 100, 46), but he does not believe he was used to his full potential by the Ottawa Senators in 2007-08.

The signing of the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Sauer from the Colorado Avalanche is seen as positive step after the team lost defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick ...More