Top Five Reasons Every Coyotes Fan Should Be Watching Training Camp

5. Stepping it up on offense

Mar 25, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Phoenix Coyotes left wing Mikkel Boedker (89) chases the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi (right) defends during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Coyotes won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

There may be a couple of up-and-comers floating around the Coyotes’ offensive system this season, but the team will need to see improvement from already existing players in order to see postseason play. There are a couple of players that fans should keep an eye on in training camp, because they’ll be the ones making or breaking this season.

First, the team has seen Mikkel Boedker improving steadily over the past few seasons, but he’ll need to get just thismuch better from last year in order to really make up the team’s top-six forwards. He failed to break the 20-goal mark last season, and as the team’s first-line left wing, I’d like to see that change. 25-36-61 is what I’d like to see out of him this winter; he’s only 24, so it’s a possibility.

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Also looking at the left wing- which I can only assume Maloney and Tippett left so weak due to the inevitability of someone moving up- there’s Lauri Korpikoski, who will have to act as a top-six winger if he expects to keep his spot on the team. If Gagner plays the way he should, or even if Samuelsson or Domi show some consistency early on, Korpikoski could see himself relegated back to the third line- but if these best-case scenarios don’t pan out and Korpikoski continues to be a mediocre bottom-six player, the team will be in trouble.

Last season also saw an offense short on team mentality and work ethic. I know, Shane Doan was out with Rocky Mountain Fever, Ribeiro had a lot to do with it, yeah, yeah, yeah… the excuses are endless. It’s no secret that the Arizona Coyotes place a higher emphasis on a solid defense than they do a fired-up offense. Unless you have a twenty-something Martin Brodeur in your net, though, you can’t win a cup with all defense and no offense- and the team will need to see more scoring power, more top-six cohesion, and more consistency up front if they want to win games.

We’ll be overviewing training camp for fans here at HH- but if you want to see it for yourself, training camp is free! The schedule has been posted on the team’s official site– hope to see you there!