A brand new NHL season is drawing very near so to get you prepared, we’re previewing what’s ahead for each of the 30 NHL teams. Here’s a look at the Arizona Coyotes.
MAIN SUMMER HEADLINES
• Coyotes trade for defenceman Goligoski, sign him to long-term deal
• Coyotes extend captain Doan for one more season
• Signed 23-year-old defenceman Murphy to six-year extension
• Coyotes buy out forward Antoine Vermette
• Forward Vrbata signs one-year deal with Arizona
• Coyotes trade for forwards Bolland and Crouse
Head coach: Dave Tippett
GM: John Chayka
Team payroll: $70.66 million ($73 million salary cap)
2015-16 Record: 35-39-8 (Fourth in Pacific)
GF: 209 (24th in NHL)
GA: 245 (25th in NHL)
Result: Missed the playoffs by nine points
Key acquisitions: Radim Vrbata, Jamie McGinn, Alex Goligoski, Ryan White, Jamie McBain, Luke Schenn, Lawson Crouse
Key departures: Antoine Vermette, Viktor Tikhonov, Anders Lindback
Rookies to watch: Forward Dylan Strome, the third overall pick in 2015, is ready to make the jump from junior to pro hockey. Expect him to be with Arizona this year. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound centre is a gifted playmaker who is coming off back-to-back 110-plus-point seasons with the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Another rookie to watch will be gritty, two-way forward Lawson Crouse, who came to the Coyotes via trade with the Florida Panthers in June. Crouse was drafted 11th overall in 2015 and is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. He’s not expected to bring the same kind of offence as Strome — Crouse totalled just 62 points in 49 games with the Kingston Frontenacs last season. He does, however, bring size and will be a very in-your-face player.
Arizona will have a successful season if…
They shore up things on the defensive side of the puck. Last season, the Coyotes allowed 244 goals, which was third-most in the NHL.
Goligoski, who signed a five-year contract with the Coyotes in July, can help the team push play to the offensive zone. Schenn, who signed a two-year contract in the off-season, can help provide a bit more stability and physicality in the defensive zone.
However, no player can have as big of an impact on limiting goals against than goaltender Mike Smith.
Smith had his best season in 2012, when he posted a .930 save percentage. If he can boost the .916 he had last season to .925 this season, he’d give the Coyotes a fighting chance at contending for a playoff spot. However, considering Smith wasn’t able to lift his save percentage to those heights last season despite posting a high danger save percentage of .874 (even better than his 2011-12 season), that outcome doesn’t seem likely.
If Smith can’t deliver, Louie Domingue will have a shot to prove he’s ready to take over.
Arizona will have an unsuccessful season if…
The offence can’t improve on its 24th-place finish last season.
Max Domi (52 points last season) and Anthony Duclair (44 points) will have to take the next step and carry this team’s offence. Strome will have to make an immediate impact on the score sheet, too. Martin Hanzal, who’s up for a new contract next July, has to do better than the 41 points he put up last season. And Radim Vrbata, who signed with Arizona over the summer, needs to bounce back from a 13-goal season in Vancouver.
If those things don’t happen, this Coyotes team doesn’t have a chance at a playoff spot in a very tough and skilled Western Conference.
