Despite making several big additions over the summer, the Arizona Coyotes have continued to struggle this season and find themselves dead last overall in the NHL with just 23 points in the first half. Despite that, GM John Chayka told Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports that although he’s unhappy with the results, he’s pleased with the direction of the team:
“I’m satisfied with the way we draft, the way we develop, the way we scout, the way we coach, the way we teach. A lot of the stuff we’re doing off the ice is important and I think those things are all trending in the right direction, but it’s like a battleship. It takes a battleship a little while to turn. Once we get things squared away and are moving in the right direction, it will move that way for a long time.”
Arizona has certainly had a lot of young players developing at the NHL level in recent years. Forwards Clayton Keller, Max Domi, Christian Fischer, and Brendan Perlini are all 21 or younger and are regular players while Lawson Crouse, who is only 20, was a regular for most of last season. Keller, in particular, has played very well this season, leading the Coyotes with 32 points. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun is a key piece on their back end and is still just 19.
While most of those players could be viewed as success stories, it hasn’t been all good news. Center Dylan Strome has been dominant at the AHL level this season (30 points in 19 games) but that hasn’t translated to much in the way of NHL success over a couple of stints with Arizona this year where he has just a single tally in 11 contests. He’s still just 20 himself but as the third overall pick back in 2015, it’s safe to say that his development has not progressed as anyone would have hoped for so far.
Chayka pointed out to Morgan that over the past two years, the average age of Arizona’s top-five scorers has dropped by ten years from 33 to 23 which is certainly quite the drastic overhaul.
With the team scuffling even more than they were last year under Dave Tippett, some have questioned whether Rick Tocchet is still the right fit as head coach. Chayka voiced his support for his bench boss while putting some pressure on his own shoulders at the same time:
“There’s a certain mindset and approach and mentality that goes into playing to win in this league and Rick is a guy who has done it at the highest level and done it for a number of years.
“In fairness to him as a manager, I think we can do a better job of getting him some more talent and putting them in the right positions to have success. Sometimes, when you look up and as a manager you’re evaluating it, there’s not a right solution to the problem you see, so he tries different things. Some of them might work; some of them might not, but in terms of his philosophy for how to play the game, I think we’re completely aligned. I do think he’s playing to their strengths and that’s something I want to see and do see. Once I get him some better players he’ll continue to be a better coach.”
Given where they are in the standings, it’s hard to imagine Arizona doing anything but selling at the trade deadline which will make it difficult for Chayka to add better players, at least in the short-term. However, considering his willingness to make some bold moves last summer when he acquired Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, and Niklas Hjalmarsson in a pair of trades, it will be interesting to see if he’s willing to do so again or if they take a swing in free agency. Otherwise, if the hope is simply that another year of development from their young core will help them take a big step forward, they may be in for some more tough times beyond 2017-18.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.