It was a quick practice on Saturday as the Arizona Coyotes were getting ready to travel to Denver for a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, but coach André Tourigny did decide to make one major lineup change. 20240216_Tourigny_Postgame Nick Schmaltz has been on a line with Clayton Keller for what seems like an eternity. That was no longer the case though during Saturday’s practice. It was Alexander Kerfoot who played alongside Keller and Barrett Hayton while Nick Schmaltz was with Jason Zuker and Adam Ružička. Statically, Schmaltz is having a pretty good season as he has 14 goals, 17 assists and 31 points in 50 games. However, through the Coyotes’ recent eight game losing streak, the eye test shows that Schmaltz’s game hasn’t been at his usual standard. Through the past three games, Schmaltz and Keller have a combined one point which shows that a change may actually be necessary. It’s also worth noting that Tourigny hasn’t officially made this specific line change. Generally when he does juggle the lines at practice it tends to be what ultimately sticks come gametime. The Coyotes’ offense have struggled as of late, so hopefully this sort of decision could help fix their offensive woes at least a little bit.
