Arizona Coyotes Tobias Rieder Playing At Accelerated Pace
In 17 games thus far this season, Tobias Rieder of the Arizona Coyotes is on pace to score almost 50 points.
With five goals, five assists so far, Tobias Rieder is playing much better than his rookie season last year. Last season he had .35 points per game ratio, and after 17 games this season, he is sporting a .59 PPG.
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The fact that he is playing on a line with Martin Hanzal (16 points), and Anthony Duclair (10 points) hasn’t hurt his offensive productivity. The 36 points scored by this line shows why they are the top line on the team.
Here was Tobias Rieder’s first NHL goal last season:
Last season the Arizona Coyotes had some speed in Rieder and Mikkel Boedker, but they doubled that this season by adding Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. It forces opposing defenses to get on their horse and try to keep up with the speedsters on the team now. Scoring chances created from sure speed has been evident in the Coyotes early season play thus far.
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A play which has been used by both Rieder and Domi, as well as Duclair, is to take the puck wide and go around the net, drawing defensive coverage towards them. These leaves the front of the net uncovered, and open for a centering pass to a wide open player.
If Tobias Rieder can score 45-50 points this season, and with the added firepower of Domi and Duclair supplemented by the season Martin Hanzal is having, you have the potential for a pretty productive season. A season that without major injuries could lead to a playoff spot.
If Hanzal can stay healthy, and stay near the pace he is presently scoring, he can accumulate 70 plus points. The same for Max Domi, who just might have a battle on his hands for rookie of the year honors with Chicago’s Artemi Panarin.
The Blackhawk’s rookie has been stellar with six goals and 12 assists in 18 games. With Edmonton’s poster-boy Connor McDavid out for quite a bit, the rookie rewards may be between these two rising stars of the NHL.
It’s just good to see that a young player like Tobias Rieder can come in and make a difference for his team so quickly. It can be argued that having new rookies Max Domi and Anthony Duclair as team-mates has taken some of the sophomore pressure off of Rieder to produce. He has handled it very well, and if he continues to improve his play, he can only get better as time progresses.
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The Arizona Coyotes have a group of excellent young players, and Tobias Rieder is certainly part of that elite group. “Speeder Rieder” has shown he’s here to stay in the NHL.
And, the Arizona Coyotes couldn’t be more pleased.