The Arizona Coyotes have been in a complete free fall since the calendar hit 2024, leaving little choice but to look towards the future with the club's playoff hopes completely extinguished.
Unfortunately, the NHL Trade Deadline failed to garner much in future assets, yielding just a 2024 sixth-round draft pick and a pair of 2027 mid-round selections for the outgoing trio of Troy Stecher, Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker. But all is not lost, as Arizona boasts a prospect pool that is consistently ranked among the league's top-10 and recently as high as seventh.
Now with roster spots available and little purpose for the season's remaining games apart from looking to the future, the Coyotes have begun to turn the ice over to their young talent in the system. The recent call-ups of players like Nathan Smith, Patrik Koch, John Leonard and Victor Soderstrom have started a shift towards more of a 2024-25 focus, and that should continue with more up-and-comers getting a look at the NHL level.
Here's a few more notable names who may still get a look:
Josh Doan
Every prospect faces some degree of pressure once they reach the big leagues. But for the son of the all-time greatest Coyote, that pressure is on an entirely different level.
Coyotes fans have had their eye on Josh Doan since he was drafted in the second round (37th over-all) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. And to his credit, he hasn't disappointed thus far, scoring at the USHL, NCAA and AHL levels. This season, he leads the Tucson Roadrunners in goals (24) and points (44).
Apart from representing a great story as a hometown fan favorite with strong family ties to the Coyotes organization, Doan could bring exactly what Arizona needs as a talented winger who, at 22, is on the same career timeline as the club's young core. If he can carry his scoring ability over to the NHL level, he could offer a much-needed boost to what is currently the league's 23rd-ranked offense.
Aku Raty
Aku Raty spent the first few years of his pro career as something of a foreign unknown. A holdover from the previous John Chayka-led regime, the 22-year-old had spent four years playing in his home country of Finland before finally coming stateside this season.
Raty has been a major success story for the Roadrunners this year, adapting to the North American game so smoothly that he ranks second on the team in points (34) and fifth in goals (12). The transition has gone so well that he could be a viable candidate for an NHL call-up in his very first AHL season, looking poised to possibly join former Finnish World Junior teammate Matias Maccelli on the big club.
Jan Jenik
We have already covered the Roadrunners' first- and second-leading scorers, so we may as well complete the top-three with 2018 third-round draft pick Jan Jenik. The Czech winger has seen limited NHL action in each of the past four seasons, including eight minutes of ice time in a game back in November.
As a pending restricted free agent, Jenik will be in need of a new contract this summer, albeit while still remaining under team control. A slight raise on his current $775,000 seems reasonable for a gritty depth forward who has 15 goals and 33 points in the AHL this year. However, now seems to be the ideal time to get an extended look at what the front office can truly expect from the 23-year-old moving forward.