Arizona Coyotes season a success despite missing the playoffs

The 2018/19 season is officially over for the Arizona Coyotes, who can look back at the campaign as a success despite missing the playoffs.

The Arizona Coyotes chased a wildcard spot all the way up to the final week of the season, a stark contrast to this time last year.

While Rick Tocchet‘s team weren’t able to reach the postseason for a seventh-consecutive season, the positivity emanating from the team should give fans plenty of hope for 2019/20.

The 2017/18 season saw the team finish dead-last in the Western Conference, sporting a 29-41-2 record with just 70 points.

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Somehow, Tocchet was able to take largely the same group and turn them into a legitimate playoff contender, ending the 2018/19 season with a 39-35-8 record – good for 86 points.

This occurred, also, with the team leading the NHL in total man-games lost due to injuries sustained to a number of key players, including starting goaltender Antti Raanta and top-line centre Derek Stepan.

Seeing the team rally round and continue to scratch and claw their way through the season has seemingly given fans a renewed outlook on the team, with a legitimate belief that the playoffs can be achieved next year.

The belief is well-founded, with a number of promising events taking place across this season that could help set the Coyotes up for a decent playoff hunt.

The emergence of Conor Garland and Adin Hill as genuine NHL players/prospects is something that should help continue the team’s progress.

Garland earned 13 goals and 18 total points in 46 regular season games this season, playing largely a fourth-line role in his rookie campaign.

His scoring tally saw Garland end the season as the eighth-highest goalscorer on the Coyotes this season, earning more goals in fewer games than Lawson Crouse and Josh Archibald while sitting just one goal behind the likes of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Clayton Keller and Richard Panik – all of whom played more games.

Hill, meanwhile, stepped up well during a difficult run for the team at the end of 2018, with both Raanta and Darcy Kuemper sidelined with injuries.

With a 2.76 goals-against average and .901 save percentage, Hill had a winning record of 7-5-0 during that run and showed real signs of potential.

The Arizona Coyotes also ended the season with the joint-best penalty killing unit in the entire league, with an 85% success rate.

Couple that with Michael Grabner‘s league-leading six short-handed goals, Tocchet’s team have a solid defensive foundation with which to build on next season.

The next step forward for the Coyotes is improving an offence that scored joint-third lowest goals with 209.

The long extension of Nick Schmaltz is a positive move by general manager John Chayka, ensuring the promising centre remains on the team for the foreseeable future.

Before his injury, Schmaltz looked a great pickup by the team and contributed heavily on the power-play – creating some chemistry with Keller.

Having Schmaltz back and healthy will be a boost for the team, with a number of young prospects also beginning to emerge.

Barrett Hayton, coming off the back of a stellar return to juniors, should have a real opportunity to stick with the NHL team and provide some additional scoring potential.

A strong draft and free agency could easily put the Arizona Coyotes over the edge next season and see them reach the post-season once again, proving to the rest of the league that the 2018/19 season wasn’t a fluke and the team truly deserves more respect.

What do you think Coyotes fans? Despite missing the playoffs how pleased are you with the progress of this team? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!