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The Arizona Coyotes need to get the young players more involved

By Jim Lynch

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 31: Nick Schmaltz #8 of the Arizona Coyotes skates onto the ice during the NHL game against the St. Louis Blues 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: Nick Schmaltz #8 of the Arizona Coyotes skates onto the ice during the NHL game against the St. Louis Blues 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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Taylor Hall has been great for the Arizona Coyotes this season, but there have been some negative effects of him joining the team.

Only two players can play with Taylor Hall, Rick Tocchet has opted for Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak to play with Hall recently. While that is great for those two players, that does make some other young guys secondary players on a team they were leading beforehand.

Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller are going to be the Coyotes leaders for years to come. Think about their contracts in comparison to other players on this team. We do not know if Taylor Hall will be back, but we do know that Schmaltz and Keller will be here till the end of the 2025-26 season.

Making sure they are producing and are playing to the best of their ability is going to be key, and when you look at their play so far this month it is not showing great numbers. Schmaltz has two assists, and Keller has just one goal.

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Schmaltz is a playmaker who has just two assists, and Keller is a goal scorer with one goal. Neither is getting time with Taylor Hall, instead, they have spent time with players like Vinnie Hinostroza and Lawson Crouse. While I think Hinostroza and Crouse are great players, I think that Schmaltz and Keller deserve time with the best player on the team in Hall.

Schmaltz and Keller should be played like they are the top pairing on this team, they are not depth players. I understand the Coyotes are trying to spread out their offense more by putting Schmaltz and Keller down a few lines, but these two players are not going to succeed only playing 13 or 14 minutes a night, they need to be up in the 16 or 17-minute range a night.

Hall could be teaching these two guys more about what it means to be an elite player in this league. Keller has never played with someone as talented as Hall during the prime of his career, so he can pick up a lot from him. The same way Schmaltz has some of his play modeled after Patrick Kane, the player he spent multiple years on a line with in Chicago.

Do you think that Keller and Schmaltz should be getting more ice time or do you like where they are at right now?

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