Arizona Coyotes Offense Still Falling Short

Are things taking off right where they left off last season for the Arizona Coyotes? I hope not…

In four pre-season games thus far, the Arizona Coyotes have been outscored 17-4. To put salt in the wound, they have been shut out 1-0 by Vancouver, and 4-0 last night to the upstart Edmonton Oilers. Anton Lander of the Oilers scored a natural hat trick to pace the Edmonton team, who also has number one pick Connor McDavid.

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Again, this is bringing back bad memories of last season, where the Arizona Coyotes scored just 170 goals, or just over two goals per game. They are regressing in this pre-season, with just a .80 goals a game in five pre-season games. While the offense is sputtering, the defense has not done much better, giving up 17 goals in five games, or at a 3.4 goals a game clip.

The one bright spot (and not to sound the alarm system, it’s still JUST pre-season) is that Mike Smith performed well against the Canucks on Monday night. Smitty made 24 saves, and the Yotes actually outshot the Canucks 32 to 24.

But, the same issues which resulted in a terrible season last year are creeping back into the team’s play. Granted they are still trying to decide which players to keep, and which to let go, but it seems like the bad habits of giving up too many shots, and not protecting Smith in goal have got to stop.

Most “experts” are already predicting that the Arizona Coyotes are going to be just as bad, or worse (is that possible?) than last season. One such predictor mentioned it will be an AUSTON .316 season, meaning the Yotes will have that as a winning percentage, equating out to 25-26 wins again this season.

With that type of news, it’s going to be a long season once more for this struggling team. If they only win as many games as last year, they will be in the running for Matthews for the first overall pick. That doesn’t guarantee them immediate success, and when a team doesn’t make the playoffs four consecutive years, with two of them being not even close – heads will roll… so to speak.

Is there hope that the boatload of prospects will someday develop into valid NHL players who can take this team back into playoff contention? Yes, but it will be painful along the way, and patience will be a difficult characteristic to practice until that happens.

Max Domi, who was supposed to be this offensive machine has yet to show his scoring touch, except for a goal in the annual intra-squad game recently. Instead, it seems Dylan Strome has shown more promise, and is turning heads his direction. GM Don Maloney stated today that Strome will “more than likely” be in the opening night lineup. They can try him out for ten games before they must decide if he stays or goes back to his junior team, the Erie Otters of the OHL, or be sent to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.

The challenge for this team will hit them early, as their first month’s schedule is not an easy one. If they can get through this first month, and the young players start performing, they may not be in the depths of the Western Conference standings again; and even if they are – hey, drafting local prospect Auston Matthews is not the worst thing which can happen to them.

The season is about to start, so let’s hope the Arizona Coyotes are ready for it, and show us some competitive hockey again.

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