Watching the Arizona Coyotes’ past four games, you may have noticed that Juuso Välimäki has not been in the lineup. This is because Välimäki has actually been a healthy scratch over the past few games. Last season, Välimäki truly broke out upon being claimed off waivers by the Coyotes from the Calgary Flames as he had four goals, 30 assists and 34 points while playing 18:41 minutes a night. When in the lineup this year, Välimäki has actually held a pretty valuable role, playing 18:41 minutes pergame and sometimes serving on the second wave of the power play. 20240116_PostGame_Torigny_FTP Why is it then that Välimäki has been getting benched recently? It’s not a personal shot at the 25-year-old. Coach André Tourigny has stated in the past that with their defensive core healthy, his decision on who to start is really game-by-game. While maybe not having a superstar defenseman, the Coyotes have a lot of capable players who can play the position well including Sean Durzi, Matt Dumba, J.J. Moser, Travis Dermott, Troy Stecher, Michael Kesselring and Josh Brown. Throughout the season, most of these players have been healthy scratches at some point or another. Tourigny has a lot of defensemen to choose from and right now it seems that he feels Välimäki is better suited out of the lineup but that could change at any time. Yes, Välimäki is being benched, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Tourigny is unhappy with his individual play. Välimäki has proven that he could be a very valuable asset for this team and eventually the Coyotes will need him to step up.
