The Arizona Coyotes are in the news once again, and not for on-ice reasons. The seemingly never-ending arena saga looks to be finally coming to an end one way or another, but we’re not here to talk about that. Drama aside, the Coyotes enter the second half of the 2023-24 NHL campaign a mere five points out of a wild card spot, while boasting a record of 23-22-3. The desert dogs are hungry to make the playoffs for just the second time since their 2012 Western Conference Final run.
As they headed into the All-Star Break, the Coyotes hit a slide, closing out the first half of their season on a three-game losing streak, where they were outscored 15-6. The month of January in general wasn’t particularly kind to the team, posting a 4-8-1 record and grabbing a measly nine out of a possible 26 points.
With the Coyotes still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and a lot left to play for, they will need to utilize these three things in order to make their playoff dreams a reality:
1. Staying Healthy
The old saying goes, “Good health is above wealth.” What does that mean in this context? Well if you’ve been following the Coyotes this season, then you know they’ve been met with their fair share of injury setbacks. It started with forward Barrett Hayton, who went down in mid-November with a hand injury, leaving the team without a number-one center for the next two months. Then came defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok and Travis Boyd. Boyd suffered a season-ending injury, while Kolyachonok missed the next two months. Fellow forward Jack McBain also missed an extended period of time with an injury as well.
Then, out of nowhere, like a hurricane, the Coyotes lost defensemen Matt Dumba, Travis Dermott, and Troy Stecher to injuries, all in the span of five days. Additional (minor) injuries included Juuso Välimäki, Nick Schmaltz, Jason Zucker, Michael Carcone, Matias Maccelli, and Sean Durzi. In total, that’s two long-term injuries, a season-ending injury, a slew of week-to-week, and day-to-day injuries, and a whole plethora of minor injuries.
Related: Coyotes’ Continued Struggles Will Lead to Trade Deadline Sell-Off
To say the good health fairy has been lenient on the Coyotes is an understatement. Thankfully for the team’s sake, they look to be almost completely healthy as they come out of the break. Dumba and Hayton are both back practicing and were expected to draw into the lineup against Vegas tonight when the two teams meet. Drawing back to how this relates to the old saying, “good health is above wealth,” can be broken down as simple as this: one’s success and wealth can never outweigh good health. For Arizona’s sake, this couldn’t relate to them more. As good as they’ve been in stretches this season, without guys like Hayton, they have also shown weaknesses and struggles filling his spot.
When the Coyotes resume their season tonight, they hope a healthy, rejuvenated roster will be just what the doctor ordered and lead them on a path to the playoffs.
2. Cutting Down on the Costly Penalties
General manager Bill Armstrong hoped his team was past the pointless penalty-taking after setting out to build a more competitive roster during the offseason. Instead, they currently sit in third with a whopping 601 penalty minutes. A large chunk of those minutes can be attributed to one guy, Liam O’Brien, who has 116 penalty minutes, and could become the first NHL player since the 2001-02 season to hit/eclipse 200 penalty minutes. No matter how you want to stretch the narrative or defend him for protecting his teammates, this is an alarming statistic. One that could solely hamper the Coyotes’ chances at the playoffs.
Nine other additional players have eclipsed 20 penalty minutes this season for the Coyotes, adding to this present issue. While blame should not be cast solely on one guy, you can’t help but wonder where they could be in the standings if you were to take away 100 of those penalty minutes. Nevertheless, if the Coyotes want to prove they are legitimate, they have to play a more disciplined game.
3. Utilize the Trade Deadline
Finally, if the Coyotes want to end their playoff drought they’ll need to utilize the trade deadline. That means for once, being conservative buyers, instead of sellers. There’s a slew of names that have been thrown out in trade rumors, including defenseman Noah Hanifin. It’s no secret the Coyotes’ defensive group has been lackluster at best, outside of J.J. Moser and Durzi.
Dumba’s game has regressed significantly after signing a one-year deal this offseason, while Valimaki has struggled in his second year in the desert after signing an extension last season. It’s not all bad on the back end though. Young stars such as Michael Kesselring have slowly turned into solid, top-four defensemen for the Coyotes, but still have some growing and developing to do.
Armstrong ultimately doesn’t have to make any moves if he feels confident enough with the current roster. Regardless, he will keep his eyes on the board if he sees a deal that could help push his team over the hump.
Final Thoughts
Simple matter of fact, the Coyotes currently sit outside of a wild card spot solely based on other teams getting hot and their struggles with consistency. As we stated in our previous article, the biggest piece that gets left out when mentioning the team’s struggles is that they are still rebuilding at the end of the day. No one expected them to be in this spot at the break, and most don’t expect them to make the playoffs.
The Coyotes have beat the odds and have themselves in the perfect spot to make a run and sneak into the playoffs, but these recent stretches of poor play and costly mistakes could dispel any hope. If the team can stay healthy, play more disciplined hockey, and take advantage of the trade deadline, then playoff hockey at Mullett Arena could become a reality.
