Arizona Coyotes: Murphy, Stone will have big impact on 2016-17 season
The Arizona Coyotes rebuild is proceeding as planned. There’s even the potential for some early success without mortgaging the future, depending on the performance of some of the team’s returning veterans that will be surrounding the team’s fresh prospects.
The Arizona Coyotes reached deals with restricted free agent defensemen Connor Murphy and Michael Stone to finish shoring up the team’s blue-line for 2016-17.
Murphy and Stone provided some of the scant few bright moments on the back end that didn’t involve Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
For better or worse, the pair of defenders will be a vital part of the team’s success in 2016-17, and in Murphy’s case for the next several years.
Connor Murphy signed a six-year, team friendly contract this off-season provided he reaches anywhere near the level the Arizona Coyotes have him pegged for.
He’s not there yet, but there were very encouraging signs last season.
Once Head Coach Dave Tippett paired Murphy with OEL, the 23-year-old really blossomed and created a fairly reliable top pairing for the team.
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His underlying stats still leave a lot to be desired, but there’s plenty to be excited about with the signing of #5 for the foreseeable future.
His counterpart, Michael Stone, was not quite so lucky in his bid for a new deal.
Stone received a higher monetary offer than Connor Murphy for this season, but it was just that.
A one-year deal til the Yotes and General Manager John Chayka figure out if he can return 100% from his season-ending injury, as well as giving the team flexibility moving forward.
Stone had a tremendous showing offensively last year but was, at times, quite lackluster on the back end in front of Louis Domingue and Mike Smith.
His own underlying stats show he’s decent at driving possession from the blue-line – a trait Chayka and Tippett desire – but it remains to be seen if his offensive outburst will be a constant or just one fluke season.
Whether Stone can replicate his success coming off of a major injury, and if Murphy can take another leap in his development will go a long way towards determining where this team is in the playoff race next February.
Taking the optimistic route, the entire defensive corps should be considerably stronger and more experienced in 2016-17 compared to the previous incarnation.
If Michael Stone can duplicate last season offensively and Connor Murphy improves as much as he did in 2015-16? Well, now we’re cooking with gas.
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