Offseason Outlook: Arizona Coyotes
With the offseason underway for a number of teams, with the remainder to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.
2016-17 Grade: F
The Arizona Coyotes were bad this past season. Like, really very bad.
The club finished tied for 28th in the NHL with 70 points, and ranked 12th out of 14 teams in the Western Conference (one of those teams was the Colorado Avalanche, and they basically don't count as an NHL team anymore, that's how bad they were, so let's say the Coyotes finished second-last in both the West and the league). Arizona's minus-63 goal differential was only bested in ineptitude by said Avs.
The Coyotes failed to score 200 goals, and their 260 goals allowed ranked 28th out of 30. Only one player - Radim Vrbata - finished with 20 goals and 50 points (he had 55), Max Domi played only 59 games after being injured in a fight (the hands-down dumbest way to get hurt in hockey), and Anthony Duclair scored only five more goals in the NHL than you did last season.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
The glory days that were Dave Tippett's first three seasons in the desert, when the Coyotes played in three straight postseasons and advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2012, are long, long gone.
It gets worse: Arizona averaged only 13,094 fans per game, according to ESPN, down - somehow! - from 2015-16's average of 13,433.
Free Agents
The Coyotes have a number of players who need contracts come July 1, and face some tough decisions with respect to the future of captain Shane Doan and Duclair:
| Player (Position) | 2017-18 Status | Age | 2016-17 Cap Hit | '16-17 Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Doan (F) | UFA | 40 | $3876134 | 27 |
| Radim Vrbata (F) | UFA | 35 | $1M | 55 |
| Zybnek Michalek (D) | UFA | 34 | $3.2M | 0 |
| Chris Pronger* (D) | UFA | 42 | $4935714 | 0 |
| Alex Burmistrov (F) | RFA | 25 | $1.55M | 16 |
| Anthony Duclair (F) | RFA | 21 | $772500 | 15 |
| Peter Holland (F) | RFA | 26 | $1.3M | 12 |
| Josh Jooris (F) | RFA | 26 | $600K | 12 |
| Jordan Martinook (F) | RFA | 24 | $612500 | 25 |
| Teemu Pulkkinen (F) | RFA | 25 | $812500 | 2 |
*Pronger was on long-term injured reserve in 2016-17.
2017 Draft Picks
The Coyotes have seven picks in the coming draft, including two in the first round - their own and that of the Minnesota Wild (acquired in the Martin Hanzal trade).
Arizona had the fourth-best odds at 10.3 percent to land the first overall pick at the NHL Draft Lottery, but it obviously fell to seventh. Some good news: That's where the Yotes drafted Clayton Keller last year, and where the franchise selected Doan way back in 1995. The bad news: This isn't a deep draft.
| Round | Picks |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 (Own - 7th overall - & Wild) |
| 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 (Flames & Red Wings) |
| 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 |
Summer Priorities
The Coyotes must do the following this summer:
1. Move on from Doan
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
It's not easy to say goodbye to your captain, the face of your franchise, the man who gave you the best years of his hockey life. But that life is ending. And, in a perfect world - which, it must be said, the Coyotes definitely do not live in - Doan will make this decision for the club and retire.
After a storybook 2015-16, in which Doan scored 28 goals, his most since bagging 31 in 2008-09, time caught up to him in his age-40 season. He scored only six times in 74 games, finishing with a disappointing 27 points, his fewest in a full season since recording 22 in 1998-99 - almost 20 years ago!
Doan also admitted he considered a deadline-day trade, but it never got that far. But the writing's on the wall. It's time to move on from Doan on the ice, and get him into a front-office role. He'll always be a Coyote, and now's the time for his transition upstairs.
2. Sign Sam Gagner
The Coyotes have good young players in Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tobias Rieder, Christian Dvorak, Jordan Martinook, Brendan Perlini, Jakob Chychrun, DuClair, Lawson Crouse, Dylan Strome, and Keller. There are definitely pieces to work with - some of them very exciting - but it's time to add to the group, rather than to solely focus on collecting assets and cap hits (Pronger, Pavel Datsyuk).
One option on the free-agent market is familiar: Sam Gagner. He spent a season in Arizona in 2014-15, and it was productive, with the pivot recording 41 points in 81 games.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
After a lost campaign in Philadelphia, Gagner found his game and more in Columbus this past season, finishing with a career-high 50 points. He's one of the more intriguing names of the unrestricted class, as he'll be 28 on Aug. 10.
With the uncertainty around Duclair and who the hell he is and what he will become, and with Doan's 15 minutes a game needing to be replaced, why not Gagner? On such a young team, he can provide scoring, leadership, and experience.
The Coyotes aren't as far away as they seem after the disaster that was the past few months.
3. Address defensive woes
Look at this. And then look away, because it is absolutely hideous:
(Courtesy: HockeyViz)
It's an absolute delight to play against the Coyotes. They allow shots from everywhere, but especially from in front of the net. You may look at Mike Smith's .914 save percentage and think, "Eh, not bad," but once you consider from where he was being fired upon, and how often, you gain a much deeper appreciation for the job he did.
Like most teams, the Coyotes need another top-pairing defenseman. That, or a new defensive system, because last year's didn't work. Like, at all.
Kevin Shattenkirk's rumored to be looking for a home on the East Coast in free agency, but the Coyotes better talk to him, and at least threaten to throw some serious loot his way. General manager John Chayka should also be speaking with Michael Del Zotto's reps, and Michael Stone's, and definitely Karl Alzner's. Especially Alzner's. OEL and Chychrun need help back there - something needs to be done.
2017-18 Outlook
The Coyotes won't be as bad as they were in 2016-17. The question is: How good can they be?
If Chayka puts in some solid work - if he can bring Vrbata back on another cheap contract, and get his hands on Gagner, or trade for someone like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and find some defensive help, there's reason to believe the Coyotes are closer than expected to a playoff spot.
Make no mistake, though - It's an important summer out in the Sonoran Desert. And perhaps Tippet's final chance to get things back on track.
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