The Arizona Coyotes are dropping the puck on the 2016-17 season, and analysts are dropping their power rankings for the NHL.
There has been much change within the Arizona Coyotes organization.
New management, new players, new approaches. Other faces remain, such as Head Coach Dave Tippett and Captain Shane Doan.
Analysts and pundits can’t wait to put a number next to every NHL team. A label. A box, if you will.
Let’s see how they are ranking the Coyotes coming off of John Chayka’s first offseason in charge:
RANK: 17
"“The playoffs aren’t out of the realm of possibility for coach Dave Tippett’s young charges.”"
I could not agree more, the Yotes are young talented and fast. The playoffs should be a realistic goal for this team.
RANK :18
"“All eyes are on 27-year-old John Chayka’s first season as GM.”"
RANK: 13th in Western Conference
"The Coyotes have a nice top line of Max Domi, Martin Hanzal and Anthony Duclair. But how good can the team really be when those three had the same number of combined points last season (137) as the players Arizona is now paying to skate elsewhere (Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Ribeiro and Antoine Vermette)?"
This seems like a strange comparison, considering Pavel Datsyuk never skated for the Coyotes. I understand the reach, but of all the things to call out negatively, Chayka and Maloney ridding the team of those players is not the subject I’d broach.
RANK: 29
"“Nevertheless, the real question for Arizona is how quickly Dave Tippett can bring along Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Tobias Rieder, Dylan Strome and the rest. The Coyotes have long been an impeccably disciplined team chronically lacking in firepower, but if those kids take steps forward, the team may surprise.”"
If preseason is any indication, there’s nothing to worry about from Domi and Duclair. They should be primed for big years. Tippett always seems to get the best out of his guys.
This young talent should not be taken lightly by the rest of the league.
RANK: 27
"“The team that’s being lauded for loading up on dead cap space might need some additional live talent.”"
Another post that has the Coyotes down with the bottom feeders of the league. I get it, they’re young and unproven. I don’t think that they are 3rd from last in the NHL.
According to Larry Brooks only three teams will be worse than the Coyotes. If he does power rankings all year I expect his to change the most drastically throughout. The Coyotes will probably reach 10 in a power poll at some point this season.
RANK: 27
"The Coyotes — employer of Chris Pronger, Pavel Datsyuk and Dave Bolland — set off on their maiden voyage under the guidance of John Chayka, the youngest GM in sports that have ever sported. They won’t be good, but watching a young, improving nucleus develop should be fun."
It is going to be fun. No doubt.
RANK: 24
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"The Arizona Coyotes are a better team than they were last season. They certainly have more talent. However, last season, the Coyotes were not a strong possession team. Unless that changes, and there’s little reason to believe that any change will be significant, Arizona will miss the playoffs.That said, the Coyotes will have one of the most exciting teams in the NHL. They’re handing the reigns to the team over to forwards Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Christian Dvorak, and Ryan Strome. Domi and Duclair will take on larger roles while spots are open for Strome and Dvorak to prove they belong in the NHL."
The assessment is fair, even if I don’t agree with the ranking.
The Arizona Coyotes highest rank came from ESPN at 17. The lowest rank was 29 from Bleacher Report.
If all the power rankings were averaged (sans the Sports Illustrated ranking, which used different criteria) the Coyotes would rank roughly 25th in the league.
That is still the bottom of the barrel of the NHL.
John Chayka’s final roster consists of 5 rookies. I can see why the power rankings are so harsh on the Coyotes.
Next: Six Biggest Questions Facing The Coyotes In 2016-17
The team does have a ton of upside but they have to prove it.
It’s finally time to see what they can do.