Coyotes awful season finally over year in review

[yave1964]

Review of the Dogs very bad awful season

 

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Nowhere to play, nobody wants them, not a ton of talent, no goalies. No hope. eliminated before opening day. That was the preseason outlook.

 

FINAL RECORD 25-50-7 57 POINTS. Worst in the West, second worst record in Hockey

 

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR Umm well... I guess it would be from /feb 20th through March 15th they played pretty good hockey. They went 8-3 including nice wins against the Leafs, Strs, Knights and Avalanche. Plus they managed to trade a bunch of players who didnt figure into their future, Lyibushkin, Hutton, Nash, Dzingel, Larsson and Wedgewood for picks as they continue to stockpile futures.

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR They knew they were going to be bad but the start....ugh. They lost their first 11 games with only one loser point along the way. To me tho, the low point was actually winnin their final three games all against playoff teams (Wild, Stars and Preds) by doing so they slipped ahead of Montreal in the final standings. If Montreal gets the first pick they have only themselves to blame. 

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT. Actually, believe it or not quite a lot. Vejdemo established himself as if not a stud in net at least a servicable NHL goalie. Ghjost was donated by the Flyers and quietly had quite a nice season. As mentioned they continued to add picks and futures as the season went on and they appear to ahve a plan. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz had damn fine seasons. Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton are now entrenched top nine guys with promise. Kessel had a good year. Janis Moser and Dysin Mayo established themselves as two kids who play very well together as the middle pair on the back end.Nick ritchie came over at the deadline and had 10 goals in 24 games. They got long looks at a lot of kids to try to figure out who can play and who cannot.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG I start with two trades they did not make, Kessel was almost certainly going to be dealt at the deadline and they could not get it done. He is an UFA who they will now lose for nothing. The other was holding onto Chychrun, resisting all offers. He seems to have regressed and the 'Yotes didnt pull the trigger on moving him. They may regret it. They played six guys in net and had a team goals against of 3.66. Christian Fischer took a massive step backwards in his development. Too mant veterans such as Ladd, Eriksson, Roussel, Beagle, Galchenyuk and Stalman just showing up for a paycheck, unwanted by anyone else but still under contract. 

 

FREE AGENTS Kessel heads the list, almost certainly a goner. Most of the above mentioned vets, Ladd, Chuckie, Eriksson, Roussel and Beagle are gone, most will see their career end. They are setting themselves up to play the kids.

 

TOP YOUNG PROSPECTS Dylan Guenther will almost certainly be given every chance to crack the lineup as a top six power forward next year with serious scoring ability. He is my dark horse for the Calder. Soderstrom will get big minutes on the back end next year. Other ready now plug and play options are Macelli, Timmins and Jenik all of whom rate at least a B-minus as far as prospect rating go. They are actually well stocked with ready now players and get this, this is what they have for picks:

First rounders 3, second rounders 4. They literally have 7 picks in the top fifty in this draft potentially snagging number one, for once this team actually seems to have a plan.

 

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR For the first time ever, the 'Yotes became the first non expansion team to lead the league with the least amount of shots per game while giving up the most shots per game. You just cannot win when your average shot per game is nagative double digits on average for an entire season.

 

COOLEST NAME Okay, this may be the coolest name of anyone to join the NHL in literally years, BOKANJI IMAMA. Friggin love the name. Not a real NHL player, just a body that they used down the stretch after the deadline but love the name. He actually played fairly well, hope he sticks around a bit, love saying his name. Bokanji Imama. Love it.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS Not a lot really. They seem to have a very good plan and good nucleus, Keller, schmaltz, Guenther form a solid top line, Hayton and Crouse can play, some good not great defensive players already established with Soderstrom a potential difference maker will be here all year next year. If they win the lotto they look really good. They need to hit on at least 5 of the 7 top 50 picks they have.

  The big question in my mind is if they trade Chychrun. If they feel the last two years of slippage are more the team he played with and with more talent he will bounce back, i can see the case for keeping him. If they can get another first and a player for him, IMHO you have to do that deal. 

  I like what they are doing. I mean, they arent contenders, not even close, but some very nice pieces are coming together and I could see two years from now them starting to howl a bit. Not 22-23, but I see them about where the Kings were two years ago, minus Kopitar and Doughty of course, lol. Lots of good young talent, lots of picks, by the time they quit playing in a high school gym or wherever the hell they are playing right now this team could actually be decent to good.