Arizona Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney was released by the organization Monday afternoon, and the immediate reaction was both disappointment and reassurance.
I went to bed Sunday night feeling good about the Arizona Coyotes and their organizational future. Despite losing the last four games of the season in a sad fashion and the uncertainty on the team’s blue line, the prospects coming through the minor league pipeline give the team hope. On top of our on ice hope, we as fans are chomping at the bit for a new stadium announcement just weeks away.
But then I woke up Monday.
‘Hockey Twitter’ was talking about two things; the playoff bracket competition and the Arizona Coyotes. Now typically people talking about Arizona is synonymous with relocation rumors or the occasional Original Six, Canadian and Northeastern fanbases thrashing our “lack of fans”. But today the talk centered around rumors that Coyotes GM Don Maloney was going to be unemployed by the end of the day and that shocked me.
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The rumors themselves were citing an overly-conservative strategy with player development and free agency as well as a power struggle between Maloney and head coach Dave Tippett. Every single report suggested Maloney would need a few boxes and a new job around 1 pm Arizona time.
Lo and behold, later in the day, Maloney was officially canned.
Now I’ve followed the Arizona Coyotes in depth for the last 5 or 6 years, but broadly my entire life. And honestly, I was a little shocked to hear Maloney was canned. Sure, Maloney was a little more conservative with signing players but, as a lot of fellow fans and professional analysts have said, Maloney performed admirably given the last couple years and limited talent base.
However new ownership leads to new pressures and expectations. In their eyes, Maloney’s performance over the last two years was unsatisfactory and now the Arizona Coyotes need a new GM.
My own take on Maloney’s firing is a mixed bag of feelings. I feel disappointed because it seemed he was making the right moves right now.
The Coyotes have drafted a strong offensive base to serve them well over the next decade, particularly with the drafting of Dylan Strome, Adin Hill, Christian Dvorak and Brendan Perlini. Maloney had acted in a fiscally-responsible fashion while ownership sured up their financial pieces and made strategic free agent moves to improve the team in the most desperate places.
The most disappointing part of Maloney leaving Arizona is that he won’t get the direct credit of managing the Arizona Coyotes back into the playoffs and seeing the drafting success in action.
I am also optimistic.
The Arizona Coyotes appear to be moving towards a more analytical managerial style with their next GM, whomever that may be. That bodes well for the organization because it will likely mean the team will immediately integrate more young talent and actively get involved in the free agent market.
These changes also show some aggression on the part of the ownership. The ownership group is making compelling statements with regards to staying in the Valley. They want to be aggressive with free agency and they want a GM who will get out there and spend money.
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CEO Anthony LeBlanc was quoted today as saying that there was money to be used by Maloney during his tenure and he left it on the table, particularly, LeBlanc said, during this past offseason. As a fan, I like this aggression and that’s what makes this change in management a good thing.
As I previously noted, Maloney and Tippett were in a philosophical battle of sorts over the management of future talent. Obviously, ownership sided with Tippett and I don’t blame them. Tipp is, arguably, a top-5 coach in the NHL. He’s an underrated leader and strong cultivator of talent. He led Dallas into the playoffs for years and reformed a Stars team into a competitor.
I’m glad that ownership views Tippett with such value. Giving coach Tippett more power over his personnel and organizationally embracing analytics means we can expect the coaching staff to bring the best out the team and the playoffs should become more realistic than they previously appeared given the rebuilding status of the team.
That being said, a new “philosophy”, as LeBlanc put it, is almost an improvement from Maloney’s fiscal conservatism because it means we can expect some dynamic free agent offers and (hopefully) signings. It means the fan base can expect continued commitment from the organization to playing hockey in the desert.
And perhaps, most importantly to me, it throws my last five weeks worth of research and articles on positional outlooks in the toilet because all of my signing mindsets were based on Maloney’s managerial track record.
In conclusion, Maloney is out and Dave Tippett won the philosophical war on talent, input, and analytics.
As fans, we can thank GMDM for his dedication to the team while it suffered great ups and downs but we also have to realize nothing is forever and the league is always changing.
Next: Coyotes Fire GM Don Maloney
Expect our new GM to get active in free agency, be aggressive with analytics and, on top of that, expect your Arizona Coyotes to put together a team next season that will not only make the Yotes a playoff team, but a Pacific Division contender.
Have hope, Arizona Coyotes fans and keep on howling.