With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning. What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason? Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Arizona Coyotes.
Arizona was a popular sleeper pick in the Western Conference heading into the season. Now that the team was healthy, things were looking up for the Coyotes. However, the injuries returned and some core players missed considerable time as a result, headlined by starting goalie Antti Raanta. To their credit, Arizona hung around the playoff mix for quite a while which will probably once again result in them being a popular sleeper pick for 2019-20. Here’s what they need to accomplish over the offseason.
Add Scoring Wingers
Scoring goals was a huge problem for the Coyotes in 2018-19. They failed to have a single player hit the 20-goal mark and center Brad Richardson tied for the team lead in that department with 19 (as many tallies as he had the previous three seasons combined). Not surprisingly, they sat in the bottom five in the league in that category and it was their ultimate downfall in their postseason chase.
They’re in decent shape down the middle offensively. Full seasons from Nick Schmaltz and Christian Dvorak should help while Derek Stepan is a capable playmaker. With those three ahead of Richardson, that’s not a bad group to build from.
The situation isn’t as strong on the wing. Clayton Keller took a step back offensively while Alex Galchenyuk (the co-leader in goals) didn’t have a breakthrough year like they were hoping after acquiring him in the offseason. Beyond those two, the depth goes away in a hurry.
Accordingly, adding offensive help – particularly on the wing – needs to be a top priority for GM John Chayka this season. While adding some top-line players would certainly help, so too would adding some second liners which may be more in their price range on the open market. Sure, moves like that wouldn’t make them a top team in terms of production but with their back end and goaltending, they don’t need to be among the top scoring teams. Merely being average in that department, something they haven’t been since they were still called Phoenix, should be more than enough.
Extension Talks
While both Keller and Galchenyuk are coming off of down seasons, they’re both entering the final year of their respective contracts and will be in line for raises. Arizona has quietly picked up their spending and will want to have an idea of what it’s going to cost to keep these two around long-term to help them decide how much they have to spend on multi-year deals this summer.
A year ago, Keller looked like he could have a shot at flirting with the point-per-game mark in 2018-19 but ultimately came up well short of that. As a result, there are questions as to whether or not he’s someone that can drive the attack on a line or if he’s better suited to be more of a complementary piece moving forward. That makes his case difficult to call – Keller’s side will be pushing for a contract closer to his 65-point campaign over his 47-point one to justify signing a year early. While that would be a bit of a leap of faith, Chayka has been more than willing to take that plunge with several of his younger players over the last year so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see it also happen here.
Galchenyuk’s case is certainly an intriguing one. The deal he’s on now basically amounted to a second bridge deal from Montreal who clearly had some questions about his long-term upside. Those questions are still there after a year with the Coyotes. He has shown himself to be a capable top-six forward at times but consistency has been an issue throughout his career. Though he’s going to be entering his eighth NHL season, it’s also worth noting that he’s only 25. With that in mind, he’s likely to command a long-term contract. Their trade for him suggests that Chayka believes that Galchenyuk is part of the plans beyond his current contract. If that’s the case, it’s likely that the team will want to get a deal done quickly with him over risking him hitting the open market in the prime of his career.
Utilize Defensive Depth
There’s no denying that Arizona has a very strong back end. They certainly should considering that they’re set to spend $30MM on their defense corps for 2019-20. However, given their offensive issues, it’s also fair to wonder if they should turn around and use some of that depth to help up front.
Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson isn’t going anywhere as his new deal kicks in. The same can be said for Jakob Chychrun while veteran Niklas Hjalmarsson’s new contract will probably keep him in Arizona for a bit longer, especially if they want to keep him and Ekman-Larsson together at times.
However, a pair of veterans in Alex Goligoski ($5.5475MM) and Jason Demers ($3.9375MM) are players that could hold some value on the trade market. Both have two years left on their deals and play the right side, a position of need for quite a few teams and one that is not particularly well-stocked in free agency this summer. Kyle Capobianco is getting close to being NHL ready and while he’s a lefty, he’s going to push for a roster spot sooner than later. This offseason seems like a good opportunity for the Coyotes to take advantage of their defensive depth and a soft free agent market and turn one of those veterans into another player that can help them up front and perhaps save a few bucks on the salary cap in the process.
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