Offseason Review: The Arizona Coyotes Blow It All Up
This may not be the most popular of opinions, but I think the Arizona Coyotes quietly had one of the best offseasons in the league. Sure, they did basically the opposite of any team trying to make the playoffs, but what they did do was use some incredibly impressive asset management to launch a rebuild.
And it’s about time.
The Coyotes on-ice have been one of those teams dancing around the cusp of mediocrity for some time. While blowing things up the way they have is no guarantee for future success, their teardown will give them the pieces needed to rebuild from the ground up.
What happened in 2021?
Not a whole lot.
Arizona had a relatively decent season, posting a 24-26-6 record in the West Division missing out on the playoffs by nine points. However, their goal differential of -23 was among the worst in the league. As mentioned above, it was just another season of mediocrity in the desert that followed many more like it.
Their offense was led by Phil Kessel (20-23—43) and Jakob Chychrun (18-23—41) with virtually everything going through those two. Conor Garland (12-27—39) had a strong offensive season, too, but was shipped along with Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the Vancouver Canucks in a massive deal.
Defensively, beyond the aforementioned two, Arizona had journeyman top-four defenseman Alex Goligoski, but he had his struggles and now finds himself a member of the Minnesota Wild.
Things in net were led by Darcy Kuemper (10-11-3, .907 sv%, -.6 GSAA), but he, too, is in a new home having been dealt to the Colorado Avalanche. His backups, Adin Hill and Antti Raanta, are also no longer Coyotes.
What did they do in the offseason?
Notable Additions: Draft picks, Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrew Ladd, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Ryan Dzingel, Conor Timmins
Notable Subtractions: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland, Christian Dvorak, Darcy Kuemper, Antti Raanta, Alex Goligoski, Michael Bunting
Everything! The Coyotes had one of the more active offseasons in the NHL as they tore down their roster and filed it with veterans. Some of the notable deals saw them trade cap space to the Islanders for Andrew Ladd and three draft picks — a second-round pick in 2021, a second-round pick in 2022 and a conditional third-round pick in 2023. Gostisbehere was also acquired for cap space, along with a 2022 second rounder. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland were sent to Vancouver for Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, a first-round pick in 2021 that was used to take Dylan Guenther and a second-round pick in 2022.
They acquired a 2024 second-round pick along with Anton Stralman for cap space and a seventh-round pick in 2023. They also acquired defenseman Conor Timmins, a 2022 first rounder and a conditional third-round pick in 2024 for Darcy Kuemper. And at the start of September, they acquired a conditional first-round pick in 2022 and a second-round pick in 2024 from Montreal for Christian Dvorak.
So.. yeah, a lot went on. What it’s done is set the ‘Yotes up with a plethora of draft picks. At the 2022 daft, Arizona will own three first-round picks (its own, Colorado’s and Montreal’s) and five (!) second-round picks (Vancouver, Philadelphia, Islanders, Sharks, their own). It’s going to be interesting to see what how the Coyotes utilize these picks. Do they use them all on players? Do they package picks to move up for another player early in the first round? Do they try and use those picks to acquire good, young NHL’ers? The options and opportunities are endless.
What to expect in 2021-22?
The Arizona Coyotes on paper will arguably be one of, if not the worst team in the league. Their goal, so it seems, is to put forth a roster of players that will give them the highest chance to draft Shane Wright, a exceptional talent, 1st overall.
One bold prediction…
They’re able to do just that. The Coyotes finish the year as one of the worst three teams in the league and win the draft lottery to select Wright.
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