Arizona Coyotes 2014-2015 Preview: Arizona Coyotes vs Washington Capitals

First Shift: Arizona Coyotes vs Washington Capitals, Position by Position

Apr 8, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz watches his team take on the Dallas Stars during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Predators 3-2 in the overtime shootout. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Howlin’ Hockey: Will the your Offense be better this season? Why or Why Not?

Dave Stevenson: I think that they will look slightly better than last year. They will definitely be more consistent- and hopefully better at even strength- thanks to new head coach Barry Trotz. While the Capitals did lose Mikhail Grabovski, I think a full season from Evgeny Kuznetsov will make up for that loss.

Richard Flores: The Coyotes offense is a little bit of a sore spot for Coyotes fans, especially after the departure of Radim Vrbata. With the former 30 goal scorer gone, the Coyotes will have to hope Sam Gagner likes his change of scenery and puts up career numbers in his first season in the desert.

Max Domi is looking like he’ll make the jump to the NHL this season, though, and could be the ace up the Coyotes sleeve. If he can surprise with some nice double-digit numbers, the team could be in better shape than they appear.

I don’t expect them to be much better than a middle of the pack team offensively; last season, they ranked 20th in goals per game, and I expect a similar number this time around.

HH: What about the Defense?

DS: I think that the Washington Capitals defense will be much better this season- the Caps showed a commitment to improving their defense by signing free agents Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. It should be very interesting to see what Trotz does with the pairings, because the Capitals have five “top 4” caliber defensemen. This is probably the deepest blue line that the Capitals have had since 1998, when they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

“The Capitals showed a commitment to improving their defense by signing free agents Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. It should be very interesting to see what Trotz does with the pairings because the Capitals have five ‘top 4’ caliber defensemen”

RF: I am so excited to see what the Coyotes can do defensively this season. Fans have been waiting what seems like forever to get  a chance to see Brandon Gormley and Connor Murphy  make an impact with the big club, and that will almost certainly come this season. It will take training camp to figure out which player will fit best into the lineup alongside Keith Yandle as the secondary pairing behind studs OEL and Michalek. Murphy seems to possess more offensive talent than Gormley, which would seem to favor Gormley playing alongside Yandle. However, Murphy played most alongside Yandle last season according to Behind the Net- and he’s got a good defensive feel when he needs it.

Last season the Coyotes struggled at times defensively, but i actually expect them to be better as they get back to a more defense-first system.