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Arizona Coyotes need to take advantage before they move to the Central

By Jim Lynch

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 31: Goaltender Antti Raanta #32 of the Arizona Coyotes prepares to make a save on a shot from Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the St. Louis Blues during the third period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on December 31, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Blues 3-1. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 31: Goaltender Antti Raanta #32 of the Arizona Coyotes prepares to make a save on a shot from Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the St. Louis Blues during the third period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on December 31, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Blues 3-1. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The NHL will be gaining another franchise before the beginning of the 2021 season. Adding another team has many impacts on all the franchises in the NHL, but no one will be more impacted than the Arizona Coyotes.

Not only will the Arizona Coyotes need to give up one of their players when Seattle joins the league, but they will also have to deal with the move to a new division. Seattle will basically be taking Arizona’s spot in the Pacific Division, and because the Coyotes are the closest team to the Central, that means the ‘Yotes will be forced to play in the Central Division.

Although this might not seem like that big of a deal, this move is going to put Arizona in a new pool of NHL teams. Instead of facing Edmonton and Anaheim now we will be playing Chicago and Nashville. This move is going to increase the travel time for the Coyotes schedule, and impact the number of times Arizona will be playing early games.

The Central Division teams play primarily within the central time zone, so this means that most of Arizona’s games will be played at around 6 or 7 central time, which could end up being around 4 or 5 o’clock in Arizona. This won’t hurt the players very much but could impact the fans that are viewing the games.

The fans are already dealing with this a lot, especially when the team travels to the east coast. However, moving to the central is only going to increase the number of games that are early for the ‘Yotes fans at home. Not only is the time going to change, but the quality of teams will also increase.

In my opinion, the Central Division is a tougher division then the Pacific Division. It is nothing against the teams out west, rather I just feel that the Central is so much more competitive. In the Pacific, teams like Anaheim and LA are all but locks to miss the playoffs, but when you look at the Central the only team you can truly count out would be Chicago.

When Arizona moves to the Central making the playoffs will be that much harder. So now is the time for the team to get some experience and make the playoffs. Obviously success is important in the NHL, I would argue that for the Coyotes success is even more important.

If the Coyotes succeed the number of fans should increase, not because people are bandwagons, but because the fans will really have a better product on the ice. Plus when you look at how the NHL views the Coyotes, winning will only make people take Arizona seriously.

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If Arizona makes the playoffs this season and has a bit of success in the postseason, pretty soon some players may look to Arizona to sign in the free agency. Players want to go where they feel they can win. So yeah, a lot is riding on Arizona making the playoffs and succeeding before they move to the Central Division!

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