Arizona Coyotes Seek Answers After Franchise Worst Start
Saddled with the worst start in franchise history, the Arizona Coyotes seek answers before the hole gets too deep.
After a gut wrenching loss to the Devils, the Arizona Coyotes are left seeking answers.
There’s been very little good news for the club since the 2016-17 season began.
Three times a late goal has doomed them to zero points when they could have conceivably eked out at least one point with a bid for overtime.
One issue is that certain names aren’t having the impact expected prior to the season.
Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak aren’t making a noticeable impact in the lineup when they dress. Max Domi and Anthony Duclair are in the midst of a six-game dry spell.
John Chayka went all-in on puck movers on the blue-line but the amount of redundancy in the pairings has created growing pains.
Mike Smith got injured, as usual, and his backups have been largely ineffective when it counts.
The list goes on and on.
Coupled with those personnel issues, the Arizona Coyotes have created the least amount of scoring chances in the NHL.
And for fun, here is Scoring Chances/PDO this year vs last year pic.twitter.com/CMngzxknwP
— Carolyn Wilke (@Classlicity) October 26, 2016
The lack of chances is further weighed down by a below average PDO number (“puck luck” for the uninitiated) and stands in stark contrast to the early part of last season.
At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, the Coyotes created a decent amount of scoring chances and had an insanely high PDO.
The highest in the league, in fact.
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This team is basically a carbon copy of that one, but instead of getting all of the bounces they are now getting none of them.
In front of bad goaltending, they are giving up the most shots on goal per game in the NHL, though their possession game has been better this season. They sit firmly in the middle of the pack with 49.28% Corsi For at even strength.
Their penalty kill is the fifth worst in the league at 72.2% and the power play converts on just 14.3% of their attempts.
Through the first six games of the regular season, the Coyotes share a lot of similarities with the 2016 Arizona Diamondbacks.
A ton of promise and expectation quickly dampened by reality.
Part of that is style of play.
The Arizona Coyotes don’t seem to have one. They aren’t strong anywhere on the ice.
It is no stretch to say the team is porous defensively, soft on the puck in the offensive zone, and their neutral zone play is inconsistent and haphazard.
Youth plays some factor, but again, it is important to note that this team doesn’t look much different than the 2015-16 version. That brings us back to the team’s sky high PDO early last season, something that kept Arizona in the playoff race for longer than expected but ultimately cost them their anticipated shot at Auston Matthews.
For the Coyotes organization and it’s fans, that leaves the team with a very important question.
Are these Yotes the team we’ve been shown over these first six games and most of last season, or are they capable of something more?
It does not behoove the Coyotes to finish in the middle of the pack, just outside a wild card spot, at least not if it’s on the back of puck luck like last season.
If they can manage real growth in their game and produce sustainable results, however, then finishing off near where they did last season would be a positive outcome.
On the other hand, if Chayka and Tippett’s team has truly not improved, they are better off bottoming out and reaping the rewards of another top draft pick.
Right now the team sits in prime position to select consensus number one prospect Nolan Patrick first overall thanks to their poor start, which is not something that fans expected coming into 2016-17.
Inevitably, the bounces will begin to go Arizona’s way.
Can they take advantage of their luck beginning to even out, or will luck be all they are relying on?
It won’t take long to find out.
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