The Arizona Coyotes have two first-round picks in the 2023 NHL draft. But Adam Proteau argues they are still in no position to start pushing for the playoffs.
A lot of things have to line up just perfectly for a struggling NHL team to correct its course and shift from a perennial sad-sack to a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
To acquire the types of elite players you need for a Cup front-runner, you have to struggle mightily and luck out in the league’s draft lottery. We just saw that take place with Chicago, who gutted its roster intentionally to have the best odds at drafting first overall and lucked out to win the lottery to be able to select phenom Connor Bedard.
But not all teams are nearly that fortunate to have a clear trajectory from worst to burst. Some teams’ best-laid plans don’t evolve linearly. And the best example of this is the Arizona Coyotes.
Heading into this season, the Coyotes stripped down their roster yet again, clearly putting their focus on the future. It was presumed, rightfully, that by season’s end, Arizona would be at or near the very bottom of the NHL standings.
That didn’t exactly happen. The Coyotes wound up finishing 27th overall, depriving them of the best chance at landing Bedard. Arizona was bad, especially on the road, where they were the NHL’s worst team at 7-25-9. But too much went right – as counterintuitive as that sounds – for the Coyotes, who could’ve used a generational talent in their mix for the next decade-and-a-half.
Now, the question is whether Arizona goes into tank mode for yet another season or starts using some of their accumulated draft picks to really get their teeth into building around a core that consists of Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse.
Both Crouse and Keller are young enough to still be in their primes when the Coyotes' up-and-coming young players get to their mid-twenties. But when the franchise is playing in a subpar NHL-caliber arena, and it’s highly unlikely Arizona makes the jump to being a playoff team next year, why not keep on managing expectations and really aim for another top draft pick?
Look at Buffalo: that team finally gained some traction as a playoff contender, but even with stars such as Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin on board, they didn’t have enough horses to get to the promised land. Is that where the Coyotes want to be at this time next year? No, it isn’t.
Arizona should want to be all-in on landing one of the 2024 NHL draft titans Macklin Celebrini or Cole Eiserman – two players who aren’t on the level of Bedard at the moment, but a lot can change during the coming year. Why not continue developing Keller, Crouse and other Coyotes youngsters while acknowledging they’re still not close to where teams have to be to make the playoffs and gritting their teeth for another year to try and build a truly special group?
Chicago's tanking was worth it because it ended with Bedard soon to be their player. It’s a valuable lesson that things can go exactly as teams had hoped for, even if they are very fortunate to get what they wanted. Arizona should double down, take their lumps and emerge from another tough season with an elite young player. Their fans will wait for it – what other choice do they have? And their roster will feature another player they never would’ve had a shot at were it not for the Coyotes’ dismal season.
Going the opposite route – trying to force the issue and shoehorn Arizona’s players into challenging for a playoff berth by adding some veteran players – is far more likely to end with a “meh” situation. It’s tough having patience, but that’s precisely what the Coyotes need.