The Arizona Coyotes have been focused on perfecting the power play as the team continues to find its rhythm through training camp.
Over the past couple of practices, the Arizona Coyotes have been working to get on the same page when it comes to the power play.
Last season, the Coyotes ranked 22nd in the NHL with 45 power play goals and 24th in power play percentage sitting at 18.9% so there is some work to be done.
What will Arizona’s first power play unit look like?
At practice, coach André Tourigny has been experimenting with one defenseman and four forwards on the man-advantage, a method that has been more common as of late. The five players that have been paired together and could be on the team’s first power play unit are Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton, Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther and Sean Durzi.
It’s helpful that Keller, Hayton and Schmaltz all played on a line together last year so the three have chemistry with one another.
The two new pieces to the puzzle are Guenther and Durzi. Guenther is a prospect known for his strong offensive talent so if he starts the season on the power play, it should be interesting to see how he is able to fit in.
Arizona acquired Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings this summer. The team has big expectations for the 24-year-old defenseman specifically taking a major role being the anchor of the power play.
“He has talent,” Tourigny said. “He has good puck touch. He has a really good stick, he sees the ice. So for all of those guys it's a matter of getting in sync together. It will take a little bit of time but they all have good communication out there, they talk a lot and I think they have all the tools to be successful,”
Right now for this group it's a matter of getting a good rapport with each other and continuing to perfect their play on the man-advantage.
That won’t just happen overnight but as Tourigny said they have the potential to do great things and it's up to these five players to come up with results in the form of burying the puck past the opposing goaltender into the back of the net.
“It would be really nice if it clicked right away and we scored on every single power play, but that sometimes is not the case,” Durzi said. “It’s going to be an adjustment period. You go out there, you want to score every time you're out there and you should feel like you can score every single time and I think that's the goal.”