How will coach Andre Tourigny handle the Arizona Coyotes' defensive pairings heading into the 2023-24 season?
When the Arizona Coyotes traded Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakob Chychrun at the trade deadline last season, it seemed the team was lacking in defensive depth.
However, with the additions of Sean Durzi and Troy Stecher on top of all of Arizona’s young up-and-coming defenseman, the Coyotes have built themselves a solid foundation at the blue line.
Here are some potential defensive pairings for the Coyotes going into the 2023-24 season from Daily Faceoff.
J.J. Moser- Victor Soderstrom
Jusso Valimaki- Troy Stecher
Sean Durzi- Josh Brown
The pairing between Moser and Soderstrom combines two of the Coyotes’ promising young defencemen. Moser was arguably Arizona’s most valuable asset at the blueline as aside from Gostisbehere and Chychrun he led the team in minutes per game with 21:03. The 23-year-old had seven goals, 24 assists and 31 points in 82 games and played a major role on the power play.
Soderstrom is still trying to find his game in the NHL. The 2019 11th overall pick has split time between the Coyotes and their AHL affiliate the Tucson Roadrunners over the past two years. This past season, Soderstrom played a career high 30 games for the Coyotes where he tallied a total of nine assists. If Moser can continue to build upon his first full season in Arizona and Soderstrom is able to adapt better to the NHL level, this could be a really solid defensive pairing.
The duo of Valimaki and Stecher has the potential to be a really reliable pairing for the Coyotes. Valimaki was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames but he failed to live up to expectations over his first three years in Calgary leading to his release in October of 2022. Valimaki really revitalized his career last season after being claimed off waivers by the Coyotes as he had a career high four goals, 30 assists and 34 points.
Stecher played 61 games for Arizona before being traded to the Calgary Flames at the 2023 trade deadline. Stecher made a statement by returning to the Coyotes signing a one-year contract at the start of free agency. While Stecher’s numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, he is more defensively oriented and plays his role well.
The last potential pairing between Durzi and Brown is certainly interesting. The two defencemen are very different. Durzi played a valuable role for the Los Angeles Kings as a top-four defenceman last year where he had nine goals, 29 assists and 38 points. The Coyotes traded for the 24-year-old at the start of this offseason and general manager Bill Armstsrobg has stated he expects Durzi to be utilized a lot specifically on the power play.
Coming off of a seven point season, Brown will need to prove that he truly deserves to hold on to a roster spot and playing with a guy like Durzi can really help grow his game.
These pairings seem to be very balanced with no real hierarchy. It will be interesting to see how coach Andre Tourigny ultimately handles the Coyotes’ defensive unit.