Arizona Coyotes' Dylan Strome's Time Has Arrived
All the talk about Dylan Strome fades into the background as #20 gets his second chance at cracking the Arizona Coyotes’ lineup.
Dylan Strome wants to make the Arizona Coyotes roster out of training camp. The Arizona Coyotes want Dylan Strome to make the roster.
It seems simple when you write it out like that.
Unfortunately, in the National Hockey League the growth of a prospect is anything but simple or straightforward.
Strome was selected 3rd overall in the 2015 draft and survived until the last cut by Head Coach of training camp last season.
He’s gone on record saying, “I obviously feel like I’m done with junior and I don’t want to be there next year.”
Wanting and wishing do not make things come to fruition, however, and despite the desire from both sides the young centerman must prove he has progressed in order to claim that coveted slot.
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Dylan Strome’s Perspective
The kid has scored more than 100-points in two consecutive seasons in the Ontario Hockey League.
He did it with Connor McDavid taking much of the attention in his second season in Erie. In his third season, despite some doubts about his own ability without McDavid, he scored more points-per-game than he had previously.
Dylan Strome spent the entirety of training camp in 2015 soaking up knowledge and competing with players like Shane Doan, Martin Hanzal, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He survived to the last day.
To fall from that height at the last cut and end up back in major junior hockey had to be a blow.
He went to work without complaint. He was named the captain of the Otters. He excelled.
Strome feels like he’s done. He learned all he could. He needs bigger, better players and competition to push his game to the next level.
It’s hard to disagree with that assessment.
The Arizona Coyotes’ Perspective
For the Arizona Coyotes, Strome making the NHL roster and having an immediate impact would put them in dream land.
Not just because of what it would likely mean for the Coyotes on the ice, but also for the fire Strome’s rising star would stoke in a beleaguered fan base desperate for a superstar.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a bona fide superstar performance-wise, but his personality doesn’t allow him to embrace the role, nor does it allow the fans to embrace him as fully as they can a player like Shane Doan or even Mike Smith.
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OEL also patrols the blue-line which is a limiting factor for every player not named Erik Karlsson, PK Subban, or Brent Burns.
A player with Strome’s potential has the opportunity to challenge for the league lead in scoring every year. That doesn’t happen often for defensemen.
The Coyotes need a face after Doan retires to market to the league and to new fans.
Max Domi appears to fit that bill, but it remains to be seen if he’s going to be simply a good player or evolve into a great player. Strome has every tool to be an elite player and his value to this organization will be immense if he manages to reach that even 90% of that potential.
Even more importantly, Dylan Strome playing in Glendale can be a help to putting butts in seats and jerseys on the backs of fans. This season.
That’s particularly important with a new arena on the horizon.
The Arizona Coyotes are a team desperate to turn the corner on an upsetting series of setbacks. A new, high-scoring franchise face would help that transition considerably.
The Fan’s Perspective
The bottom line here is results.
As fans, we’ve all touted the Yotes’ prospect pool and read countless articles about it.
Most of us are fine with another year or two of rebuilding if it’s necessary, but eventually fans will want to see actionable evidence that the plan to bank all these youngsters is valid.
It was a long wait to see Max Domi take the ice. Anthony Duclair was a bonus pickup and fit the bill nicely when he debuted.
Deep down, though, fans want to see the Brendan Perlini‘s, the Strome’s, the Christian Dvorak‘s, and Conor Garland‘s.
Do they have what it takes to take their games to the next level? Will they sink or swim?
We want to find out.
And so, the impatient wait for Strome to make his debut and take the franchise to new heights.
Or not. Either way, we want to know. It appears we are about to get a preliminary answer on #20.
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