Coyotes Preview, my pick for the most improved team in the West in 23-24

[yave1964]

LAST SEASONS RECORD 28-40-14 70 points minus 71 goal differential. 13th in the West, 25 points out of a playoff spot.

 

OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS Ghost was dealt at the deadline, as was Chychrun. Christian Fischer took his heavy game to Detroit. Nobody else of any consequence was moved out

 

OFFSEASON ADDITIONS  Logan Cooley signed his ELC contract and will make the team as a sniper capable of winning the Calder as the leagues top rookie. Jason zucker brings his 27 goals and solid 200 foot game to Arizona. Nick Bjugstad came back after a deadline move to Edmonton to center a bottom six line. Matt Dumba comes aboard on a one year show me deal. Sean durzi replaces Ghost and should score 50 points quarterbacking the power play. Alex Kerfoot comes over from Toronto and IMHO will be a surprise top six forward with 50 points. 19 year old Conor Geekie will be given a chance to bring his highly skilled game to the second line and if given a chance could be a fantastic player for the Yotes this year. Soderstrom, Crotty and Maveric Lamoreaux are all skilled young blueliners, at least one or more of them will get a shot at top four roles in the blueline.

 

  Holdovers that are being added to are Hayton who finally showed signs of developing into a top six center last year. Crouse and Keller are brilliant young top six wingers to build around. Schmaltz is a solid forward who can play any position in the top six. Mattias Maccelli came out of nowhere and was a fantastic playmaker on the wing. Dylan Guenther took his lumps last year but people love him. The forwards are young hungry and their top nine could be among the leagues best if the breaks go their way. Moser surprised a lot of folks last year running the point on the power play. 

 

  Weaknesses are simple but glaring. Even with Moser, Dumba and Durzi, the defense is porous and does a very poor job keeping pucks out of the net. The goaltending is below league average but really not terrible. Vejmelka and Ingram return as a not so dynamic duo in net, but not the worst ever. 

 

  They drafted hulking defenseman Dmitri Simashev in the first round, he is several years away but is the goods. They also drafted Daniil But 12th overall, a six foot five sharpshooter. Most pundits rank the Coyotes draft in the top three or four in the league this year,

 

 

  My point is the Coyotes are deeper and more talented than they have been in a decade. They will be very, good, not that anyone will notice as they inexplicably remain in Phoenix/Flagstaff/Prescott/Turscon or wherever the Hell they are playing these days. 

 

  My prediction for the Coyotes is that they finish in 5th in the division, outside of the playoffs but with 90 points and a deep pool of young talented players. They are absolutely tracking the right direction; 90 points is a realistic expectation for a team without an arena.

 

  Worst nightmare for the league would be for the Coyotes to actually play slightly better than I think they will and make the playoffs and the team/league actually has playoff games in a college arena. 

 

  I like this team. I think they are a year away from being a consistent playoff team for half a decade or more. I see them pretty much exactly where I saw the Kings/Rangers a couple of years ago. They are on the rise, tons of young talent, glaring deficiencies but enough assets to move out to fix the defense and the goaltending isnt as bad as some think.

[Puck_Pun]

Jokes about how great the Stanley Cup finals being at their home arena would be aside, yeah they do have the potential to pick up their game this season. There's a lot of underestimating the coyotes, so watching people's reaction if they make the playoffs would be interesting. 

[Icechipper]

Go Desert Jets!