The Arizona Coyotes have made it official, they are actually trying to place dead last in an effort to land the next “can’t miss prospect/superstar” Connor Bedard. The illusion of being a competitive team and putting out a competent product is over. The curtain has been removed and the team is finally acting like who we thought they were.
Bottom feeders.
The team has not actually announced the intention outright, but following the trade deadline and the mass exit of starting players from the roster, the Coyotes are mailing it in.
With the dismissal of Nick Ritchie, Jakob Chychrun, Nick Bjugstad, Dysin Mayo, Troy Stecher, and Shayne Gostisbehere, the team will field a roster that should expect to be just going through the motions.
Hurry up and end the season so the next stage of the rebuild can commence.
Am I bitter or upset? Not really. The team was not built to win this year, and if you aren’t in contention to win it all, you might as well tank and hope that you get a top draft pick the next year. Professional sports teams need to be either really good (like contender good) or really bad if they ever realistically want a chance to win it all. The middle tier teams seem to always be stuck in purgatory.
So I guess this is a plus.
The trading of Chychrun for pennies on what the asking price was has me a little annoyed. They should have held on until this summer and got more for him. I realize he is the tin man and is almost always hurt, so the urgency to sell now probably had GM Bill Armstrong feeling the heat. They could have gotten a lot more though.
I hate the “taking on other teams’ bad contract” trades. I just do. That is throwing away money in my opinion. I do not care if they recoup some draft capital. Spend that money on players who are playing. Every once in awhile it makes sense, but this is a part of the Coyotes game plan every year.
I will say this though, thank you Coyotes for not trading Nick Schmaltz. He clearly is an essential piece to this rebuild and moving him would have had the team searching for his replacement through the draft. Chances are, they wouldn’t have found him. He is a legit stud. Time to build around him and Clayton Keller.
Though things feel like old times in the desert, and business as usual, the team is finally, fully committed to this rebuild. Here’s to hoping we land the top pick in the draft. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has our back.
Happy Howlin’!