With the NHL season now underway, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in 2017-18. Next up in our team-by-team primers is the Arizona Coyotes.
Last Season: 30-42-10 record (70 points), sixth in Pacific Division (missed the playoffs)
Remaining Cap Space: $15.9MM per CapFriendly
Key Additions: D Adam Clendening (free agency, NY Rangers), F Nick Cousins (trade, Philadelphia), D Jason Demers (trade, Florida), D Niklas Hjalmarsson (trade, Chicago), G Antti Raanta (trade, NY Rangers), F Zac Rinaldo (free agency, Boston), F Derek Stepan (trade, NY Rangers)
Key Departures: F Alexander Burmistrov (free agency, Vancouver), D Anthony Deangelo (trade, NY Rangers), F Shane Doan (retirement), F Peter Holland (free agency, Montreal), F Josh Jooris (free agency, Carolina), F Jamie McGinn (trade, Florida), D Connor Murphy (trade, Chicago), F Teemu Pulkkinen (expansion, Vegas), G Mike Smith (trade, Calgary), F Radim Vrbata (free agency, Minnesota)
[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: G Antti Raanta – After spending the past four seasons as a backup (including two years with the Rangers where he was well above average), Raanta is getting his first real chance to be an undisputed number one goalie. He’s also getting the opportunity in a contract year as he’ll become an unrestricted free agent in July.
In particular, it will be interesting to see how he holds up with the workload of a starting netminder. He hasn’t surpassed the 40-game mark since 2012-13, his last season in the Finnish SM-liiga before signing with Chicago. Even at a time where most backups are being asked to play more often, starters around the league play beyond 50 games so his endurance as the season progresses could be an issue.
With so many youngsters in the lineup, expectations are that Arizona will take some steps forward this year simply based on that. If Raanta can come close to maintaining his level of play from the past two seasons as well, he will position himself for a big payday on the open market in July while likely keeping the Coyotes close to the playoff picture.
Key Storyline: It would be easy to talk about the continued youth movement that is in place with Arizona having a lot of talented youngsters up front. Between that and Raanta giving them a new starter between the pipes, the work GM John Chayka has done to their defensive corps in a short period of time has largely gone under the radar.
The acquisition of Hjalmarsson gives the Coyotes a dependable stay-at-home partner that should allow Oliver Ekman-Larsson to get more involved offensively. Alex Goligoski was brought in last summer to give the second pairing an above average threat and adding Demers last month gives them another proven option, especially with Jakob Chychrun – a 2016 first rounder – out indefinitely.
When they’re a fully-healthy group, that’s four of their top-five that have been acquired since last summer which is quite the overhaul in a pretty short amount of time. It’s also a pretty strong collection of defenders on paper that has the potential to be one of the better groups in the West. With the additions they’ve made, Arizona could wind up being an intriguing sleeper team in the Pacific Division if everything comes together as planned.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Imagine how scary they’d be if they had enough cash to throw some at Tavares and get up to the cap ceiling. They’ve done a really good job with what they have, but if they can’t spend within at least 5-7 million of the cap they’ll have a hard time legitimately competing.