2022-23 NHL team preview: Arizona Coyotes

LAST SEASON

Nobody expected the Coyotes to be any good last year, and they weren’t – by design. Last summer, general manager Bill Armstrong said goodbye to many key pieces from the Coyotes’ 2020 playoff roster, including Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Darcy Kuemper, Christian Dvorak, Conor Garland, and Adin Hill. In doing so, the Coyotes were able to add three first-round picks, three second-round picks, and a few additional future assets to their collection.

Under previous GM John Chayka, the Coyotes had attempted a return to relevance in the form of making aggressive splashes in the trade market for big-name players. Chayka’s acquisitions during his tenure included Taylor Hall, Phil Kessel, and Derek Stepan, and, to the ex-GM’s credit, those three players all played a part in the Coyotes returning to the post-season in 2020.

However, the Coyotes’ veteran-laden team failed to replicate its success in 2020–21 and Armstrong subsequently elected to pull the plug. As a result, the ‘Yotes kicked off the 2021–22 season with a roster full of players on bad contracts and stars on their last legs whom Armstrong agreed to acquire in exchange for additional draft picks.

Arizona has long been in the business of taking on bad money – just look at the Pavel Datsyuk and Marian Hossa trades – but these deals were different. Neither of those guys ever wore a Coyotes uniform in the NHL, whereas Andrew Ladd, Loui Eriksson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Antoine Roussel, and Anton Stralman all played significant roles in Arizona last season.

Under new head coach André Tourigny, the Coyotes achieved their goal of being bad and earned the right to make a very high draft selection. But the ‘Yotes also saw young forwards Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, and Barrett Hayton take substantial steps forward with Tourigny behind the bench. There’s still a long way to go in the desert, but there also seems to finally be something resembling a sustainable plan to build a successful team (and an actual NHL arena) down the line.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions
Nick Bjugstad, C
Zack Kassian, RW
Troy Stecher, D
Patrik Nemeth, D
Josh Brown, D

Departures
Phil Kessel, RW (UFA)
Loui Eriksson, LW (UFA)
Antoine Roussel, RW (UFA)
Jay Beagle, C (UFA)
Alex Galchenyuk, C (UFA)
Dmitrij Jaskin, RW (KHL)
Kyle Capobianco, D (WPG)
Anton Stralman, D (UFA)
Harri Sateri, G (Swiss)

OFFENSE

Many of the Coyotes’ most intriguing offensive players aren’t even in the league yet. Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther are two of the top forward prospects affiliated with any NHL team, while Conor Geekie, Josh Doan, and Matias Maccelli have all shown legit flashes in their respective ranks.

Arizona’s current NHL roster isn’t completely devoid of talented offensive players, although it’s certainly not hard to imagine this team scoring the fewest goals in the league again next season. The depth simply isn’t there. That being said, Clayton Keller is a legitimate first-line forward on almost any team in the league, Nick Schmaltz is a versatile and slick top-sixer, and Lawson Crouse took a big step toward becoming a legit second-line scoring winger last year. Barrett Hayton also has top-six potential.

Jakob Chychrun and Shayne Gostisbehere are the Coyotes’ two biggest weapons from the point. Gostisbehere enjoyed a resurgent season after being acquired by Arizona, surpassing the 50-point plateau for the second time in his career and averaging more than 22 minutes a night, a new personal best. Chychrun struggled to find his game and missed a lot of time with injuries last year but still possesses massive goal-scoring upside from the blueline.

Beyond Keller, Schmaltz, Crouse, Hayton, Chychrun, and Gostisbehere, there’s really not much here at all. Maybe Zack Kassian or Nick Bjugstad can pot a few goals on a line with Keller or Schmaltz? Can Travis Boyd replicate his 17-goal season? Who knows … but it would take Alex Ovechkin in his prime to get this team to become even average offensively.

DEFENSE

The Coyotes’ offense is pretty bad. Their defense might be worse. Gostisbehere is about as one-dimensional as a defenseman can be, Chychrun had a really tough time in his own zone last year, and the rest of that defensive group is made up of various bottom-pairing veterans and fringe prospects.

Troy Stecher has the ability to be a bright spot in a bigger role next season. The 28-year-old right-hander has a track record of strong play while munching minutes on relatively underwhelming Vancouver Canucks teams, and there’s a chance he could see heavy deployment on a pairing with Chychrun in 2022–23.

Of course, there’s no guarantee Chychrun finishes or even starts the upcoming season with the Coyotes. The 24-year-old lefty has been the subject of numerous trade rumors this summer after expressing his frustration with the state of the team at the end of the 2021–22 season. Chychrun has ties to the Ottawa region and would be a natural fit as part of a defensive group with Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and Artem Zub.

If the Coyotes trade Chychrun, they’ll need to really start adding young defensive talent to the organization. Chayka nabbed Victor Soderstrom at No. 11 in the 2019 NHL Draft, but the pickings in the Coyotes’ defensive pipeline are pretty slim beyond the right-handed Swede and promising 2021 draft choice J.J. Moser.

GOALTENDING

Karel Vejmelka is virtually assured to reprise his role as the Coyotes’ starter after coming out of nowhere to seize the job last season. The 26-year-old signed a lucrative three-year contract extension with the Coyotes late in the 2021–22 campaign.

Vejmelka probably isn’t the Coyotes’ goalie of the future, but he did exactly what the starter on any rebuilding team needs to do. The 6-foot-4, 224-pound netminder managed to keep the Coyotes competitive far more often than they should’ve been last year, but he also wasn’t quite good enough to elevate the team out of prime lottery positioning. Vejmelka made the ‘Yotes more watchable, but not at the expense of the overarching objective.

We have Ivan Prosvetov pencilled in as Vejmelka’s backup next season, but it seems more likely the team will look to acquire another goaltender in a trade and eventually relegate both Prosvetov and Jon Gillies to the American Hockey League. The San Jose Sharks still have three goaltenders on their NHL roster, including former Coyote Adin Hill … could there be any mutual interest in a reunion? Would the Dallas Stars pay the Coyotes to take somebody like Anton Khudobin, entering the final year of his deal?

COACHING

André Tourigny replaced Rick Tocchet as the Coyotes’ head coach last summer. Tourigny previously enjoyed a long career as a coach in the Canadian junior ranks, and he seemed to put a lot of that expertise to good use in his dealings with the Coyotes’ young players in 2021–22.

Keller, Schmaltz, Crouse, and Hayton all posted career-best offensive numbers during Tourigny’s debut season behind the Coyotes’ bench. He’ll likely help oversee Dylan Guenther’s transition into the pro ranks this year. It’s hard to judge the performance of somebody coaching a team like the Coyotes, but Tourigny helped a player like Keller rediscover his scoring touch after he really struggled to find the back of the net in his later years under Tocchet.

ROOKIES

The Coyotes played a lot of rookie defensemen last year, mostly out of necessity as the vets on the team went down with injuries. Moser, Vladislav Kolyachonok, Dysin Mayo, Kyle Capobianco, and Soderstrom all saw significant deployment last season, although Mayo is the only one who managed to lock down a permanent spot on the blueline.

We have both Jack McBain and Nathan Smith pencilled into top-nine roles with the Coyotes next season. The ‘Yotes acquired McBain and Smith as unsigned collegiate prospects prior to the 2022 trade deadline and subsequently agreed to terms on contracts with both before giving them 10-game cups of coffee in the NHL down the stretch.

McBain is a massive center who emerged as an impact player as a senior at Boston College last season. He also played for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics. Smith is smaller and an American (he also played at the Beijing Games) but has a better track record of NCAA production, enjoying three highly successful years at Minnesota State – Mankato before signing with Arizona.

Guenther isn’t on our projected depth chart, but there’s a chance the 19-year-old winger could get at least a nine-game tryout with the Coyotes to start the season. The 2021 No. 9 pick scored 45 goals and 91 points in just 59 WHL games with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2021–22.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. How will Clayton Keller bounce back from his injury? The star winger had his career-best season cut short in March after suffering a scary-looking leg injury during a game against the San Jose Sharks. Keller had surgery to repair a fractured leg and was given a four to six month timeline for his recovery. Serious leg injuries can hamper a player’s mobility even after they fully recover. Keller is of vital importance to the Coyotes’ present and future, and they’ll need him to be back at his very best if they want to make any noise in the years to come.

2. Who will be on the move at the deadline? The Coyotes shouldn’t have much trouble selling Shayne Gostisbehere, who successfully resurrected his career with the team after being acquired as a salary dump from the Philadelphia Flyers. Troy Stecher could also be an appealing piece for teams looking to add quality defensive depth at the deadline. And how about Nick Ritchie? The physical winger went on a hot streak after joining the Coyotes from the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 10 goals and 14 points in 24 games to close out the year. Moving Gostisbehere, Stecher, and Ritchie should help the ‘Yotes add even more draft picks to their collection.

3. Can Lawson Crouse and Nick Schmaltz repeat their performances? Earlier this month, the Coyotes re-signed Crouse to a five-year contract after he scored 20 goals with the team last season. Crouse will have to maintain that level of production (at the very least) to live up to his new $4.3 million cap hit. Schmaltz has a much better track record but still has a lot to prove after scoring 59 points in 63 games with Arizona last year. Can he hit 70 points? If so, the question then becomes whether he should be a part of Arizona’s new core with Cooley and Guenther … or if the ‘Yotes would be best served to sell high.

PREDICTION

Arizona certainly won’t be good in 2022–23. If everything goes right, the Coyotes will be gearing up to select Connor Bedard at next year’s draft. A team with Bedard, Guenther, Cooley, and Keller would sure have a lot of potential … but the Coyotes aren’t quite there yet.

The Coyotes, as always, will be pretty fascinating this season. They’ll be playing their home games on the Arizona State University campus, with a dedicated student section in a brand-new (but tiny!) arena. The Chychrun saga could wrap up at any time, but, if anything, that trade will only make the Coyotes worse in the short term.

The only thing preventing the Coyotes from finishing last in the Central Division (and the league) might be the Chicago Blackhawks. Still, it’ll be a pretty good fight to reach the bottom.

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