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2016-17 Season Preview: Arizona Coyotes

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With training camps opening around the league and the new season less than three weeks away, we continue our series of team previews with a look at the Arizona Coyotes.

Last Season: 35 – 39 – 8 (78 points), fourth place in the Pacific Division. Missed the playoffs.

Salary Cap Space Remaining: $2.347MM (per Cap Friendly). The Coyotes will be able to free up to an additional $10.5MM by placing Dave Bolland and Chris Pronger on LTIR.

Key Newcomers: Alex Goligoski (D) – trade with Dallas; Jamie McGinn (LW) – free agent from Anaheim; Luke Schenn (D) – free agent from L.A. Kings; Radim Vrbata (RW) – free agent from Vancouver; Lawson Crouse (LW) – trade with Florida.

Key Departures: Antoine Vermette (C) – contract buyout – signed with Anaheim as free agent; Alex Tanguay (LW) – free agent; Boyd Gordon (C) – signed with Philadelphia as a free agent.

Players to Watch: Mike Smith and Goligoski. The Coyotes allowed the third most goals in the entire league which was a function of substandard goaltending and a mediocre defense corps. GM John Chayka addressed the defense, dealing a fifth-round pick to Dallas in exchange for the negotiating rights to Goligoski and subsequently signed the veteran puck-mover to a five-year contract.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the Coyotes #1 blue liner but Goligoski adds a reliable veteran to the mix who can play in all situations and will strengthen the team’s top-four. Last season he tallied 37 points for the Stars and has averaged 40 points for every 82 games he has played during his career. Goligoski was a horse on the back end in 2015-16, averaging nearly 24 minutes a game for the Central Division champs.

Meanwhile, the team is hopeful Smith will be healthy and provide steady play between the pipes for the Coyotes. The team finished 23rd overall in goalie save percentage with Smith appearing in just 32 games. On a promising note, Smith led all NHL goalies with 15 or more games played in 2015-16 in High Danger Save % (HDsV%) with a mark of 87.4% and has stopped at least 84% of those high quality chances in three of the last four seasons.

Smith was superlative in 2011-12 – the last season the Coyotes qualified for the playoffs – winning 38 games and finishing with a Sv% of 93.0%. He has the ability to single-handedly keep the Coyotes in games and if Goligoski can help clean up the defensive end, the Coyotes will be a contender.

Storylines: The John Chayka experiment and the development of the kids. Chayka is not only the league’s youngest GM but he’s also the first to come from a more analytically-oriented background. Fair or not, how the Coyotes perform with the roster he has assembled will have a major impact on how analytics and advanced stats are perceived in the league. If he can build a winner in Arizona with a limited payroll, it might encourage more clubs to actively embrace the role of analytics in the game.

By all accounts Chayka is a bright guy and most of his offseason moves were met with positive reactions from hockey pundits. His actual reliance on analytics in roster construction may be overstated but there is no question old school managers and coaches will be watching with interest.

Although improved goaltending and more contributions from the club’s blue liners will be important, perhaps the key to this upcoming season is the continued development of its young talent. Max Domi and Anthony Duclair are already well on their way to becoming stars in this league but the team does lack an established #1 center. Fortunately, they do have Dylan Strome, the third overall pick in the 2015 entry draft and one of the game’s top prospects. Strome has been among the most explosive scorers in junior hockey, totaling 240 points in 124 games with Erie of the OHL, averaging nearly two points per contest. No one expects the young pivot to immediately fill the void at #1 but if he can establish himself as a legitimate NHL regular it will take some of the pressure of the team’s returning centers. Assuming Duclair, Domi and the team’s other young players take the next step in their development and Strome proves to be ready for the NHL, Arizona has a realistic shot at playoff contention.

Kris Russell In “Serious Discussions” With Eight Teams

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After Darren Dreger mentioned on TSN 1050 Tuesday that unrestricted free agent Kris Russell could still possibly be a fit for the Maple Leafs this season, he took to Twitter to clarify his stance, and the news he has about Russell as the season approaches.  Dreger reports that the defenseman is in serious discussions with eight teams, and is expected to sign before camp starts.

While Dreger gives no hints on who these teams are, one can guess at least the Maple Leafs are still among them if he would go out of his way to theorize about them. We originally ranked Russell 12th among our top-50 free agents, assuming that his analytical detractors weren’t so widespread among league front offices by this point. That doesn’t seem to be the case however, as he’s languished deep into the summer without a deal and will likely have to sign one much lower than our expectation.

We predicted he’d land with the Bruins, though that now seems a fantasy after the team brought back John-Michael Liles and Joe Morrow on one-year deals. An interesting possibility is the Arizona Coyotes, who while at the forefront of hockey analytics, may still see his reduced market as a net-win, like they did with Luke Schenn earlier in the summer.

Either way, Russell will likely sign a shorter term deal to try and rebuild his value, something many teams could be interested in as injuries start piling up in training camp. Russell still is a capable NHL defenseman, though probably best suited to a third pairing at this point in his career.

Columbus Extends Three Front Office Members

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After a year that saw the Columbus Blue Jackets come 27th in the NHL with only 76 points, trade away one of their best young players (albeit for another excellent youngster), and shock the hockey world by picking Pierre-Luc Dubois at third overall instead of the consensus pick, Jesse Puljujarvi, the three highest ranking members of the front office have signed two-year extensions. President of Hockey Ops John Davidson along with GM Jarmo Kekalainen and AGM Bill Zito are now all under contract through the 2018-19 season, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch.

Davidson, the former player and broadcaster, was brought over from St. Louis in 2012 (where he had held the same title) to run the hockey operations in Columbus. Under Davidson, the club has missed the playoffs in three of four seasons, while being knocked out in the first round during their lone appearance. While immensely respected in the hockey world, he had similar trouble in St. Louis, with that franchise experiencing arguably its worst era in team history.

Kekalainen was brought in by Davidson in 2013, after previously working with him in St. Louis. Thought of as an excellent scout and draft analyst, Kekalainen was part of the team that selected Alex Pietrangelo, T.J. Oshie, David Perron and David Backes among others.  His biggest criticism now is that he passed on Puljujarvi, though his track record may suggest he knows something many do not. In 2008, many had Kelowna defenseman Luke Schenn or Russian forward Nikita Filatov ranked higher than Pietrangelo, but the scouting team made the right decision in the end, and picked their future captain.

Chayka Speaks About Lawson Crouse, Dawn Braid

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Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka joined Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 yesterday to talk about his coaching hires and the big trade from yesterday. The 27-year old hired three coaches including the NHL’s first full-time female coach, and dealt two draft picks for Dave Bolland and Lawson Crouse.

On why he decided to make the deal:

It’s about Lawson Crouse. It’s about a guy who we think is a rare asset. Usually when you acquire a power forward like this you’re giving up something in terms of speed or skill. We think that not only is he speedy and skilled, he’s going to enhance that for our group as well.

Usually these guys (power forwards) when they’re at the caliber Lawson is, they’re hard to find. Usually they don’t become available until they’re in their thirties. At that point you’re paying a premium for a guy who is not on the right side of his career, and we didn’t want to do that.

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Coyotes Sign Jakob Chychrun To Entry Level Contract

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Craig Morgan of AZSports tweeted that the Arizona Coyotes have inked the second of their two, 2016 first-round draft choices, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, to a three-year ELC. Chychrun, selected 16th overall in last month’s draft, likely has only an outside chance at cracking the Coyotes roster on opening night as the club already has eight blue liners with NHL experience under contract. It’s far more likely the team will elect to return him to his junior club for more seasoning.

Originally slated to select 20th overall, the Coyotes moved up four slots in a deal with Detroit that also saw Arizona absorb Pavel Datyuk’s $7.5MM cap charge. The trade allowed the Wings to clear significant cap space from their books while moving back just a few positions in the draft. Detroit also picked up a second-round choice, 53rd overall, which the team used on defenseman Filip Hronek. Meanwhile, Arizona put themselves in position to take a player they liked tremendously and had even considered drafting with the seventh overall selection.

Chychrun played his junior hockey with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. In 62 OHL contests, Chychrun tallied 49 points and boasted a +23 plus-minus rating. His father, Jeff, appeared in 262 NHL games, spending time with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Pittsburgh in a career spanning parts of eight seasons.

First year GM John Chayka has been among the league’s busiest executives this summer. Chayka added D Alex Goligoski via trade and LW Jamie McGinn and D Luke Schenn as free agents to bolster a young but talented roster. He also re-signed team captain Shane Doan and restricted free agent defenders Michael Stone and Connor Murphy to new contracts. Whether these additions will help get the Coyotes back into the postseason or not remains to be seen but Chayka has shown he is unafraid to make impact moves so far.

Latest On Connor Murphy

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While news has started trickling out about the Coyotes’ inability to sign RFA Tobias Rieder, Arizona may be closing in on one of their other remaining unsigned players. Craig Morgan of AZSports reports that Brian Bartlett, the agent for restricted free agent Connor Murphy expects to have a deal done by the end of the week.

Murphy, 23, saw his role with the Coyotes improve drastically last season especially following the trade of Keith Yandle. After the trade, he logged over 22:30 per night (up from 19:50 pre-trade) and held his own against tougher opponents. The bone-crushing hitter isn’t an offensive or possession dynamo, though he did contribute 17 points last season, and saw some limited powerplay action.

Even with the addition of Luke Schenn, Murphy will probably slot in beside another newcomer in Alex Goligoski on the second pairing next season, with fellow unsigned RFA Michael Stone skating alongside superstar Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Obviously, these pairings will be settled in camp, but Murphy will try to continue his strong development from first-round pick (20th overall in 2011) to top-four defenseman.

Western Notes: Chayka, Sydor, Eberle

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When the Arizona Coyotes gave then 26-year old John Chayka their GM job, many in the hockey world cringed at the thought of the analytic community finally having a poster boy at the top of an NHL franchise. Chayka promised to bring with him the newer possession-based analysis of NHL players, and today summed it up quite nicely in an interview with Dan Rosen of NHL.com:

“The philosophy is fairly simple. It’s when we don’t have the puck, recover the puck as quickly as possible. There are all kinds of different forms where you can gain possession of the puck, some of them are physical and some of them are non-physical, so I think you need a blend to have both. Once you get the puck back it’s to transition the puck. Defense isn’t about defending, it’s about getting the puck in the forwards’ hands and getting the puck moving into the offensive zone. It’s about transitioning.”

The phrase “defense isn’t about defending” will stick out as a sort of mantra for the analytics push, as the league continues to move away from players who can impose themselves physically in their own end, but can’t move the puck when they end up with it.  His team has added Alex Goligoski, a possession darling who moves the puck well, but has also signed Luke Schenn and Jamie McGinn, both players who aren’t so revered for their new-age skills.  It’ll be interesting to watch what Chayka does in the future, and whether he breeds a level of success rarely seen in the desert of Arizona.

  • The Chicago Wolves of the AHL have hired former NHLers Darryl Sydor and Daniel Tkaczuk as assistant coaches for 2016-17, adding to a group that is led by Craig Berube.  The St. Louis Blues affiliate went 33-35-8 last season, and will look to improve on that record this year. Sydor, a 19-year NHL veteran played in over 1200 games in his career, and has been coaching as an assistant with the Minnesota Wild for the past five seasons. Tkaczuk, an AHL journeyman who made it into just 19 NHL games during his career, coached with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL last season.
  • Jordan Eberle has hired the “Shot Doc” to help him with his shooting ability for next season. Ron Johnson, a skills coach who has worked with Joe Pavelski and Ryan Kesler in the past has been known for improving things like grip mechanics and puck protection. If Eberle can improve on the 14.5% shooting percentage he put up last season, he could climb back above the 30-goal mark for the second time in his career.  Eberle has 145 career goals in 425 games, and is a near-lock for 25 each season.

Sunday Snapshots: KHL, Corrado, Schenn

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The KHL’s Chinese expansion team, Kunlun Red Star, has signed three former NHLers prior to their first exhibition game, according to KHL insider Aivis Kalnins.

Sean Collins, a 27-year-old center from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, spent last season with the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate in Hershey and appeared in two NHL games with the Capitals; winger Alexandre Picard, a former 8th overall pick by Columbus in 2004, played 67 games with the Blue Jackets over parts of five seasons before spending the last four seasons in Switzerland; former Hurricanes defenseman Brett Bellemore also signed with Red Star after spending last season with Providence of the AHL.

Kunlun played its first exhibition game on Sunday morning versus Traktor Chelyabinsk in Finland.

More snapshots from around the hockey world:

  • The Maple Leafs and their RFA defenseman Frankie Corrado have filed briefs ahead of their upcoming arbitration case. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the team’s offers are worth $625K/ $125K on a two-way contract or $575K for a one-way contract. Corrado’s asking price is $900K.
  • Newly-signed Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn told the team’s website that he’s looking forward to being able to grow as a player in a market without as much added pressure as he’s previously experienced. Schenn has played most of his career in major hockey markets Toronto, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Defenseman Luke Schenn

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The Arizona Coyotes have signed defenseman Luke Schenn to a two-year deal, first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. CBC’s Elliote Friedman says the deal is worth $1.25MM AAV. ProHockeyRumors ranked Schenn the 30th best free agent this summer. The deal represents a significant pay cut for the defenseman, as Schenn’s last deal paid him $3.6MM annually for five years.

The unrestricted free agent put up 4G and 12A with both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings last year. The hard-nosed defenseman showed promise early on with the Toronto Maple Leafs after being drafted 5th overall in 2008. Schenn never did meet his potential, and the Leafs traded him to Philadelphia for James van Riemsdyk. Los Angeles traded for Schenn midway through last season in an attempt to bolster its defense.

Coyotes GM John Chayka says that Schenn is “a good, young defenseman and we feel we can optimize his performance here. He will be a solid addition to our blue line.” Arizona is not done with their D-corps, however, as RFA defenseman Michael Stone elected salary arbitration this summer. The hearing is set for August 4th, which gives both sides time to negotiate. The deal leaves the Coyotes with over $13MM in cap space next year, according to CapFriendly. While that is more than enough to sign RFAs Tobias Rieder and Michael Stone, the Coyotes are known to have an internal budget.

[See Arizona Coyotes Depth Chart at Roster Resource]

 

Free Agent Profile: Luke Schenn

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Free agent defenseman Luke Schenn came into the NHL with plenty of expectations, having been drafted with the fifth overall pick in 2008 by the Maple Leafs, winning a gold medal at the World Junior championship, and cracking Toronto’s lineup at 18 years old. Since then, Schenn’s value has diminished, and he’s quickly becoming a veteran journeyman, rather than a budding star.

Initially viewed as a young bright spot on a bad Leafs team, Schenn played 70 games at over 21 minutes a night. The longer Schenn played in Toronto, the more he seemed to be questioned. He was still seen to have the potential to become a high-end NHL defenceman in 2011, when he was signed to a five year, $18MM contract. After signing, Schenn continued to struggle, and was subject of trade rumors all season, until he was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers at the draft for left winger James van Riemsdyk.

There have been flashes along the way, and Schenn has had success playing with more skilled defense partners, such as Kimmo Timonen, or Michael Del Zotto. Like in Toronto with his draft position, Schenn faced expectations in Philadelphia based on his salary and what was given up to acquire him, and never fully lived up to them. In January, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings along with Vincent Lecavalier for Jordan Weal and a third round pick.

Potential Suitors

While he’s unlikely to be called a top-four defenseman, Schenn has value. He’s an experienced and capable player, and plays the right-handed. Teams looking to balance their defense pairings will take a long look at him. The Boston Bruins, for one, only have two right-handed defensemen signed to NHL contracts, and have the sort of puck-skilled left-hand shots that Schenn has seen success with, including former teammate John-Michael Liles. The Edmonton Oilers have also been speculated to be looking for a right-hand shot.

Expected Contract

Placing Schenn 30th on our NHL free agent rankings, we had projected he would receive a three-year, $8.25MM contract. Given how much of the cap space throughout the league has already been spent, it’s hard to imagine him signing for much more than $1MM for one year in an effort to rebuild his value, or provide depth to a contending team. Teams looking for size and balance may be willing to pay more, but one would have to think that if they were, it would be done by now.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

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