Arizona Coyotes: Teams win championships not stars

The Arizona Coyotes are having a great year, and their recipe for success is one that varies from other teams. Arizona lacks a true “star” player, and maybe that is just how they like it.

The Arizona Coyotes do not have one star leading their team. Yes, they brought in Phil Kessel, but we already talked about the role he needs to fill and it is not that of the “star”.

Rather Arizona has six stars on the ice during every shift a goalie two defenseman and three forwards. The “star” of the Arizona Coyotes is their team playing as a group. Some teams do not need to have just one or two stars lead their team to the playoffs.

Teams like Carolina and the New York Islanders come to mind from last year. Neither team had one true leader, rather they relied on different players to step up to the plate on a nightly basis. These two teams made it to the playoffs relying on their system and so can the Coyotes.

Another example of a team with no true star player would be the Vegas Golden Knights during the year they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Knights had no true star outside of Marc-Andre Fleury, rather they stood together as the “band of misfits” from the rest of the NHL.

These instances from the past show that a team can win without a true star player. Now if the New Jersey Devils were to turn around tomorrow and say they want to trade Taylor Hall, of course, I would want the team to jump at the opportunity, but even without one-star teams can succeed, and here is why.

Without one star player carrying the workload, other players have to step up. Think about the impact players like Connor Garland Christian Dvorak and Nick Schmaltz have made this year or Phil Kessel in a more sheltered role. Arizona has a team all going out players for each other with the main goal to win.

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Teams like the Edmonton Oilers go out to play on a nightly basis knowing if they get the puck that they need to get it to Connor McDavid to generate a goal. While that can result in wins at times, it is better to have a full team of players ready to step up to the plate and score a big goal on any given night.

Darcy Kuemper showed it the other night when he stepped up for his teammate. No one on this team is above another guy, rather they are all there to make each other better.

The Coyotes team play is a recipe for success, but it needs to continue. Although a player like Conor Garland leads the team in goals, the Coyotes need to continue to give everyone an opportunity on the ice rather than overplay players like Garland and Schmaltz.

If the Coyotes continue to play as a team rather than a bunch of stars we will continue to see them win.