For The Arizona Coyotes, The Western Conference Just Got Tougher
With most of the free agent frenzy, and trades pretty much a thing of the past, the Arizona Coyotes face a tougher Western Conference than ever before. General Manager Don Maloney has already stated that any additional moves he may make won’t happen until before training camp begins next month. It leaves that slight chance that he may make more roster moves, but for whatever reason, he is waiting.
I understand that he wants to see what young guns prospects like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Christian Dvorak, and Brendan Perlini can bring to the ice before he makes some moves. I just hope that there will be some quality players still available by that time.
Howlin’ Hockey will go through some Western Conference teams who made upgrades to their teams, to inform you of the changes they have made, and how it may affect the standings, or better yet… how it might affect the Arizona Coyotes fate this upcoming season.
May 30, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen (31) stands behind teammates on the bench as the Ducks play in an empty net situation against the Chicago Blackhawks in the third period in game seven of the Western Conference Final of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The Anaheim Ducks ALMOST made it to the Stanley Cup Finals — except for one important factor… they had to get by the tough Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks showed why they have the heart of a champion, and the Ducks had to leave with their feathers between their legs, hoping for better results next season.
They made some changes, to perhaps get to that point, in the off-season. Gone is Francois Beauchemin, replaced by Kevin Bieksa. Beauchemin signed a three-year $13.5 million free agent contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Gone is Matt Beleskey, who signed a nice five-year $19.8 million free agent contract with the Boston Bruins. They obtained Carl Hagelin from the New York Rangers for Emerson Etem, but has yet to get his signature on a contract with the Ducks.
Look, the Ducks are still a fantastic team who will again be favored to take the Western Conference crown. If you have a Getzlaf, Perry, and Kesler you have a team core which will take you places.
How does this affect the Arizona Coyotes? Well, let’s put it this way — the Ducks won’t have the Coyotes chasing them for that top seed by season’s end. The Yotes managed only one point in four games against the Ducks last season, so you could say the Ducks have the Coyotes by the tail, and that won’t change this next season.
Dec 20, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) and Arizona Coyotes center Joe Vitale (14) during a face-off in the first period of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Kings fell from grace last season, missing the playoffs, but were active over the summer improving their fortunes for this next season. They pulled off a deal with the Boston Bruins, receiving rugged Milan Lucic, who among others was dealt away from Beantown. Forward Lucic was sent to Tinseltown for goalie Martin Jones, defenseman Colin Miller and the 13th-overall draft pick.
“I expected the unexpected. I definitely didn’t expect to get traded to a team like L.A., but I couldn’t be happier to end up in a spot like this with a team like this,” Lucic stated in an ESPN
“I don’t want to stand here and give any guarantees about how many goals I’m going to score, but when you’re playing with two great players (Kopitar, Gaborik) like that, you always try to set new goals and higher goals for yourself,” said Lucic, who had 139 goals and 203 assists with the Bruins.
Of course the Arizona Coyotes don’t like the Kings very much, their rivalry is fierce and contested every time they meet. The past season the Yotes only managed one victory in four games, and will be looking to improve upon that record when they open the season against the rough and tumble Kings on October 9th in Los Angeles.
While the Kings muscled up their front line, so did the Arizona Coyotes by adding one of the biggest forwards in the NHL when they signed 6′ 8″, 260 lb John Scott. You can bet Scott will be out there a few times to show the Kings that they will not be pushed around anymore. I’m totally looking forward to this opening night contest.
Nov 11, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (right) fights against Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal in the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars weren’t foolin’ around, as they went after two highly touted players, and got bothof them. Patrick Sharp was acquired along with defenseman Stephen Johns, for defenseman Trevor Daley and forward Ryan Garbutt. But, in my opinion the big deal for the defense was signing Johnny Oduya via the free agent market.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-3Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd /
The Stars are going for the whole piece of pie, and also got their greedy hands on a decent goaltender, in Antti Niemi, who will split time with Kari Lehtonen. I’d say addressing offensive and defensive shortcomings has got to make the rest of the Western Conference take notice. I just wish that the Arizona Coyotes would have done as well as the Stars in increasing their roster talent. With Jamie Benn, and Tyler Seguin running the offense to the hilt, this team may surprise some onlookers come season start. The Arizona Coyotes didn’t fare well either (see a trend here?) against the Stars last season, losing all three games, and really got creamed 6-0 on New Year’s Eve. The Stars are for real… a team to watch.
Jul 2, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; NHL draft number one pick Connor McDavid takes part in the Edmonton Oilers rookie camp at the Rexall Center. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
The Edmonton Oilers must have thought it was Christmas in April when those lottery balls landed in perfect sequence, and they were rewarded with the first overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Of course, everyone who hasn’t lived on a deserted island knows that selection was none other than the second coming of Sid Crosby, and Wayne Gretzky all mixed into one Connor McDavid. Will he bring the success starved Edmonton hockey club out of the doldrums? He could.
It didn’t hurt the Oilers to add a quality defenseman like Andrej Sekera, and trying to solve their goaltender woes by grabbing former New York Rangers net-minder, Cam Talbot, who will transition to a starting role with the lowly Oilers. The Oilers sent the 57th, 79th and 184th picks to New York for Talbot and the 209th pick. Sekera landed a six-year $33 million deal to leave the L.A. Kings and head to the Oilers.
To say the Oilers made some good improvements is an understatement. They helped their creditability in the front office as well by bringing in former Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli as the new General Manager. Todd McClellan was added as the new head coach, so if the Oilers fail to improve after all these changes, it’s not clear what they can do.
The Arizona Coyotes may not enjoy the success of last season, when they won all five games against the Oilers. It will be totally entertaining to see Connor McDavid, you must admit. I don’t know about you, but I’m marking my calendar for November 12th for the first game at Gila River Arena against the Oilers, and their megastar McDavid.
Apr 7, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Jiri Hudler (24) and Arizona Coyotes defenseman Michael Stone (26) fight for position during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
The Calgary Flames, like the Dallas Stars went for the quality players they could acquire, and they came up looking golden with Dougie Hamilton, and Michael Frolik. This not only solidifies their defense BIG time, Frolik will add more to their already potent offense. They look to be in the playoff hunt again, and with rising star Johnny Gaudreau they have every reason to believe they will be there again next April hunting for the Cup, like 15 other teams.
The Arizona Coyotes hope to improve on their 0-4 record from last season against the up and coming Flames, but they are a talented team who improved much like the rest of the competitive Western Conference. The heart-breaker for the Arizona Coyotes was not landing Dougie Hamilton, who they almost acquired on draft day. Either the uncertainty of the City of Glendale’s actions regarding the Gila River arena, or the prospective deal speculated not conforming to GM Don Maloney’s parameters, shot down bringing Hamilton to the desert.
We can only dream how a blue-line with an Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Hamilton would have been like now… it was just that a dream. The Yotes may still land a right-handed defensive partner for OEL before the season starts, don’t forget that Cody Franson is still out there.
Next: RECAP
So, as you can see the Arizona Coyotes have some work to do to catch these teams, in order to even have a pipe-dream of getting near a playoff spot. The management is hoping (and this is all it is…realistically) that they can take after the aforementioned Calgary Flames fortunes, and turn things around. Unfortunately, it may take another year or two to get to that point.
I mean, unless Max Domi can come in and score 30 goals, or Anthony Duclair can add 25 goals, the team doesn’t look much different than it did last season. And, what happens if they fail to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season?
