Arizona Coyotes general manager Don Maloney made quite the headlines after he suggested that just about every player on his team save Oliver Ekman-Larsson might be pried away from his team via trade offers, so it's not that surprising that Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc took a very different tack while speaking with USA Today's Kevin Allen:

"I would love to see (coach) Dave Tippett's reaction if someone said, 'You focus on attempting to lose,'" Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc told USA TODAY Sports. "You would watch his head explode."

Players will be moved before the March 2 trade deadline, LeBlanc said, and those deals will be done to improve the team as quickly as possible, not to improve its draft status in what is considered a strong draft year.

"I don't think we need to go from the chassis up," LeBlanc said. "We have those really good solid pieces in the young talent we have on the team. … A complete rebuild is when you knock it down and begin again, and we don't need to do that. We just need to layer in some other pieces that fit better."

The Coyotes, 20-27-7 entering Tuesday, are on their way to their first losing season since 2008-09, though they had gone 4-2-2 since the All-Star break.

"We think this team is better than what our record is," LeBlanc said. "But we are on our way to our third consecutive year of missing the playoffs, and that is simply not good enough."