Arizona Coyotes Leave Big Questions After First Major Cuts
By Alex Temes
Question 4: Both Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak are fighting for a top-9 center role, and what kind of role does Laurent Dauphin take on in the fray for a roster spot?
In discussing the open center spots for this edition of the Arizona Coyotes, many could argue that only one skating and one scratched role will be available to attain, with that starting role likely on the first or second lines while another spot remains open as a scratched or rotational depth player.
Regarding that top centerman role, the race is down to only former 1st round pick Dylan Strome and Illinois-native Christian Dvorak. Both have competed extremely well in camp this fall, showing off why both are some of the top rated prospects in hockey.
Strome brings that supportive role to the team, mostly in how he moves the puck around, looking to pass before he shoot. Dvorak, on the other hand, is a shoot first kind of player who has the capacity to play a 200 foot game.
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In the end, that multi-phase kind of skill may be more of what the Arizona Coyotes need coming into this season rather than an accessory player.
Jumping over to Laurent Dauphin, this situation is far more dependent on what kind of a role the coaches place Ryan White in. Like I said earlier, if White plays wing or is scratched more often than not, Dauphin may be a good fourth line player. But if White earns that 4th line center role, Dauphin will either be a healthy scratch or be playing top minutes for the Roadrunners.
However, because White is so versatile, Dauphin’s role isn’t a necessity for the Arizona Coyotes right now because if a center gets injured and White is playing wing, he could shift over and a scratched player, like Stefan Fournier, could lot into a lower winger role.
Hanging above all of this is the highly plausible idea that the Arizona Coyotes keep both Strome and Dvorak, pushing Brad Richardson down to the fourth line, and then deciding after the fact on what role White would play and if Dauphin should spend some time in Tucson.
Both Strome and Dvorak are NHL ready players who are competing for limited roster spots, but maybe their values are so high that roster spots are made for them regardless.