Arizona Coyotes: Six Questions After Rough Start In Desert

The Arizona Coyotes 2016-17 season hasn’t started off well. The Howlin’ Hockey staff touches on that and more to break down the rough start.

Well, it hasn’t been the best of times through the first five games of the Arizona Coyotes’ season.

Many of the team’s scorers are mired in a slump, the defense has been porous, and an injury to Mike Smith has put Louis Domingue on the spot and he’s found himself lacking so far.

All is not lost, however. There’s still plenty of hockey yet to be played.

The Howlin’ Hockey staff is tackling five of the biggest pending questions for the Yotes as they attempt to dig themselves out of an early hole.

Which rookie has been the most impressive through the first five games? Which rookie has done the least to earn a full-time job?

Alex Temes:

Without a doubt, Jakob Chychrun has been the most impressive rookie on this young roster.

Obviously, winning games is important and all of the rookies were given a roster spot in hope of helping the team back to the playoffs, but Chychrun has been a fantastic bright spot in an outright abysmal start to the season.

In terms of least impressive, I’d go with Dylan Strome.

He was supposed to be a stud with huge offensive upsides, but in the few games he’s been in, I hadn’t even noticed his play until the commentators called his name out.

Jonathan King:

Jakob Chychrun has been the most impressive, by far.

In fact, he’s playing at a high level and has been more consistent than many of the team’s other blue-liners.

Competition breeds results, and Chychrun is playing for his season, knowing he could well be sent back to juniors. This kid is on fire in each game, and his desire and commitment shows. He’s winning the hearts and minds of Coyotes fans everywhere.

I can’t put my finger on which rookie has been the least impressive, as several are playing at a similarly bland level. I think it’s too early to say one way or another which rookies are keepers and which ones should be tossed back. Strome and Dvorak have shown glimpses.

I’d like to see bigger steps forward.

Jason Harrison:

I’m not intentionally trying to make this unanimous, but the most impressive rookie is Jakob Chychrun.

And it’s not even close.

He’s a joy to watch in the offensive zone and he’s made a few plays defensively. He’s also had a few he’d like to have back…but then so has pretty much every member of the Arizona Coyotes’ defensive corps these first five games.

As for least impressive, fans are quick to dog pile on Dylan Strome for his lack of production, but the obvious candidate here is Lawson Crouse.

He’s received very little ice time from Dave Tippett until Sunday night’s game versus the Rangers. Crouse has also had exactly one memorable moment – a penalty kill with Laurent Dauphin – up until that point.

He did play better against the Rangers, but I expect more from a guy playing a mostly defensive role with his size and pedigree.

I can’t see any way he stays on the roster all season at this rate.

The Killer D’s aren’t producing like they are accustomed to. What’s wrong with the dynamic duo? Who should center their line, or should they be split up to fix the problem?

Alex Temes:

I think sustained line time with Christian Dvorak will get Max Domi and Anthony Duclair going.

In the Rangers game, that line was probably one of the most energizing.

I think if Coach Tippett stopped doing his best Joel Quenneville “Line Blender” impression and let some chemistry grow, results will come.

I believe separating Domi and Duclair would ultimately put both of them in a pretty bad ‘sophomore slump’.

More from Howlin' Hockey

• How the Arizona Coyotes could line-up with Logan Cooley signed
• Report: Logan Cooley could be closer to signing Arizona Coyotes ELC
• Arizona Coyotes sign Matias Maccelli to three-year deal
• Ivan Prosvetov signs one-year deal with Arizona Coyotes
• Arizona Coyotes cut Galchenyuk after reported police incident

Jason Harrison:

The Domi and Duke conundrum seems unique, but it’s a pretty regular occurrence around the NHL.

Teams often have a pair of highly skilled players who work well together, but the common wisdom among coaches seems to be separating them to spread the scoring throughout the lineup.

You can see the two disparate thought processes on this in action in Washington and Chicago.

Until this season, no matter how many times the Caps’ various head coaches separated them, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom always performed better on the same line. In Chicago, Coach Q often plays Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on separate lines…and then will bring them together late in games if it gets a little hairy.

I’m still up in the air on Domi and Duke playing together at even strength.

I think it’s great late in games but I’m not sure it’s something they need to be doing all the time, at least not until some of our other young offensive dynamos pick up the pace to fill out other lines.

As for who I’d like to see centering them, of the realistic options I’d choose Christian Dvorak.

Not only do the Killer D’s need to get going, but Dvo needs to live up to his own hype. There’s no better way to rack up points long term than centering this pair.

Plus, the “3D line” has a nice ring to it.

Caitlyn Pence:

The Killer D’s have been separated and put back on the same line throughout this season so far.

So it’s not that they need to be apart. They just need to score once.

They are both streaky players, once they score they won’t stop.

With that said they need help maintaining puck control. I believe a veteran center would be best.

Although Dvorak being there would sound like a killer line, it won’t work. Martin Hanzal being there would be the best option with his net front presence and skill.

Alex Goligoski is signed for four more seasons at a hefty price tag. His Coyotes debut has, however, been rather lackluster. Reason for concern, or nothing to see here?

Alex Temes:

I have a tendency to be highly critical of defenseman, and I already have been of Alex Goligoski.

But I think it’s too early to judge Goli’s contract.

Sure, his debut has been underwhelming, but he does fill that top-4 puck moving defenseman role that Arizona has needed.

I think if he gets a solid defensive partner who can cover his back when he jumps up into a offensive play (maybe Luke Schenn), Goligoski’s reviews will become increasingly positive.

Jason Harrison:

There was basically no other outcome for Goligoski than to be questioned by Coyotes faithful.

After all, this is the same fan base that was happy to see Keith Yandle go.

The difference between the two is mostly negligible.

Goligoski is perhaps a little more responsible in his own end, while Yandle puts up higher point totals overall.

They play a similar game which is offensively gifted though not particularly flashy. Defensively it can be an adventure from time to time, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Alex Goligoski is going to have turnovers. The way he plays it’d be hard to avoid them, but like his predecessor Yandle.

With that said, it has been a particularly rough go for him here at the start of the season.

Given his age, odds are the back end of his five-year contract might be painful for Arizona. I don’t think it’s anything they need to be concerned about just yet, though.

Jonathan King:

Goligoski is a good blue-liner, but he is having a rough go of it.

New team, new part of the country, new baby, and he just bought a new house.

That’s a lot of new.

Playing well is about being comfortable, and it may take a while for him, his family, and his play to get settled.

I think he deserves a pass for a while, and mid-way through the season we can get a better look at how things are going.

Louis Domingue has struggled in relief of the injured Mike Smith. Is Louis the goaltender from January 2016, or is the guy who played for the Coyotes in 2014-15 and also from February – March 2016 the real, inconsistent Louis Domingue?

Caitlyn Pence:

It’s unfair to judge Louis at this point in the season.

Especially after he began the season thinking he wasn’t gonna see ice any time because “Smitty was back.”

Louis is a solid goaltender that got thrown in a tough position during a long road trip. He will get there, just needs to find his momentum.

His momentum was definitely starting to show during the Ranger game with multiple impressive saves. He stopped some that shouldn’t have been saved and by miracle he did.

People are gonna doubt and question his ability but Mike Smith did not win when he was in net either to start this road trip.

The Coyotes have to find themselves as a whole.

Louis is a solid goaltender, but his defense and offense aren’t helping him much. If your offense isn’t scoring and the other team is, of course you’re gonna lose.

Alex Temes:

I think Louis has been getting better. I don’t think he was expecting, or prepared, to play this many games this soon.

Obviously, even if he wasn’t expecting it, he should be prepared but he had some great plays over the last two games in New York and I think he’s trending upwards.

Ultimately, Louis, much like Smitty, feels like he will be a consistently inconsistent goalie.

Both have tendencies to get streaky, so all we can hope for is that one or even both get a hot hand and pull Arizona back into relevancy.

Jonathan King:

Louis Domingue seems to excel at stopping the hard stuff while letting the easy stuff fly right on by.

Reminds me a lot of Mike Smith, who seems to play his best after allowing an easy goal or two early in the game.

I think the starting goaltender has a lot more impact on the backup’s play than most will admit.

We’ve seen King Louis play unbelievably well. The key is whether he can reproduce that.

Once again, competition is a good thing and with Smith hurt he has no real incentive to shut them down. Perhaps sending him a message that he could be backing up the backup will get his gears going.

I love him in goal. I just want to see him play at the higher level we know he can achieve.

Who has been the Arizona Coyotes most impressive player thus far?

Alex Temes:

The best player for Arizona has been Jordan Martinook.

He’s the ‘energizer bunny’ of the team; he’s always on the puck, chasing down plays and playing responsible, 200-foot hockey.

Should Marty be slightly faster, he’d be an older version of Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson.

If Martinook has shown us anything so far this season, it’s that his ceiling as a player is much higher than a 4th-liner (think Tobias Rieder-type ceiling).

I also think Brad Richardson and Jakob Chychrun would be strong candidates for best player so far as well.

Vincent Benedict:

Honestly, no one.

The Coyotes have skated and passed like they have no idea where their teammates are going.

This is to be expected with five rookies, not to mention the other new additions to the squad.

If I had to select one I wouldn’t even say best, I would say least worst.

Using that criteria I’d choose Oliver Ekman-Larsson because we are one gOEL away from being 0-5.

Caitlyn Pence:

Best player… this is hard. Multiple players have been shining through this bleak stretch.

I would have to say Radim Vrbata, he has impressed me and many others.

He was doubted from the beginning with people saying he was old and waste of money. So far he has been the best signing.

He is scoring, putting up assists, is on the power play, on the ice in the final minutes, and is getting heavy minutes total.

Next: Kyle Wood, Adin Hill, & Brendan Perlini Impress In Tucson

He has net front presence and good puck handling.

He is making a big impact so far. Wouldn’t be surprised if he only gets better as the season progresses.