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Will Arizona Coyotes Have Their Worst Season Yet?

By William Grigsby

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With Only Two Shootout Wins, One OT Loss in Their Last 16 Games — Things Don’t Look Too Promising For the Arizona Coyotes

One needs to go back to the ’06-’07 season under then coach Wayne Gretzky to match the futility of the current Arizona Coyotes team. That team finished with 67 points, and with only 15 games remaining in the season, the team needs 18 points to exceed that record low point output. With five points in their last 16 games, the chances of that happening is quite remote.

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    • They would need to finish with a 9-6 record. When you look at the schedule, it reveals that the Yotes play the Penguins twice, the Canucks twice, the Sharks twice, and the nemesis Red Wings once. Looking at it optimistically, I see maybe four wins, eleven losses to end the season with 58 points.

    Pretty dismal…huh?

    So, what happened this season? A variety of things actually…

    1. Poor defense, leading to turnovers, leading to goals against.
    2. Poor goaltending… we all know that Mike Smith has had a terrible season, and he realizes it as well.
    3. Youth movement. At the cost of developing young players, they make mistakes, which costs games.
    4. Trades, precipitating a rebuild, retool or whatever politically correct term you use.
    5. Bad breaks. I mean just look at Dave Moss. The guy gets excellent looks at the net, and comes up empty. The lucky bounces are just that, and they haven’t found their way on the Coyotes side of the scorecard much so far.
    6. Poor special team play. Their power play is decent at 21.13%, but the penalty kill is poor at 78.38%.
    7. Injuries. Every team has to fight through them, but when you lose a Mikkel Boedker AND a Martin Hanzal, your chances are reduced significantly.

    When you mix all these ingredients in the NHL pot of success you get a nasty recipe for failure.

    Did GM Don Maloney try to remedy the situation at the trade deadline? Indeed he did. He brought in young players like Dahlbeck, Moore, and down the road Anthony Duclair. Throw in a few players added from waivers like: Cunningham, McGinn, and Arcobello and you can see the promise this club could develop.

    Also added to the pot of gold for the Yotes were draft picks. Always a good bargaining tool over the summer off season months when you want to add to yours team’s roster to fill in some holes. All in all, things have got to be looking up. Next season you will see a young, energetic, fast hockey club. I can see the pieces falling into place. Will they make the playoffs next season? Questionable. It all depends on how these young players show as much promise as management hopes they will show. Will this team be fun to watch? You bet.

    So, Desert Dog followers — don’t give up hope. This could be a very promising group of hockey players. I can see with players like Duclair, Dvorak, Perlini, and Domi ready to show us what they’ve got in the reasonable future, there’s plenty to be optimistic about. I see Domi, and Duclair possessing a decent shot at making the Coyotes roster next season. Plus, don’t forget: depending on where the team finishes, there will be a shot at one of the top three draft picks over the summer.  Get excited Coyotes fans, the future looks bright!

    Next: Arizona Coyotes Trade Deadline Frenzy: My Thoughts on The Trades

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