No matter how you slice it, it’s good to be a Phoenix Coyotes fan right now. The Coyotes are safe (for at least one more season) in the greater Phoenix area, the team has a ton of young talent and the head of SaveTheCoyotes.com gets to park at Margaritaville instead of a dirt parking lot. Hell yes, times are good. The Coyotes cup runneth over!
The aforementioned head of Save The Coyotes, Heather (@TheYotesDiva on Twitter) was kind enough to take time from her own celebrating this week to kick down a great draft preview and overall summary of the Phoenix Coyotes. Not the Hamilton Coyotes. Not the Phoenix Basilles. The PHOENIX COYOTES.
1. What was the biggest strength last season?
Shane Doan. All the crap the guy had to go through this season and he’s still smiling, he’s still giving it his all every night. He still remains dedicated to this franchise. Shane Doan is and will likely remain our biggest strength up until the day he retires. But with the team as a whole, prior to the Coyotes Post All Star Game landslide, they were showing great signs of being a team on the brink of being serious competitors. Not nearly perfect of course, but much improved. Sitting at #5 in the Western Conference going into the All Star break, it looked as if the team was destined for big things. One of the things I noticed was how they were starting to come together as a team. Some of the line combos were starting to gel. Following the ASG, things started to unravel. We now know that this was likely due to the off-ice issues that the team was experiencing. It’s hard to come to work everyday and give it your all when you have no little to no job security.
Forwards are not the Coyotes problem!
2. What was the Coyotes biggest weakness last season?
Scoring. Obviously you can’t win games if you don’t score goals. Olli Jokinen was brought in at the Draft last season to hopefully kick up our offensive ability a bit. FAIL. Crap happens. Jokinen and Doan never quite gelled on a line together and therefore, the two of them were playing musical line mates the whole season. We have some good offensive talent coming up. Enver Lisin is probably the fastest skater in the NHL, I’d venture to say. He has amazing speed and quite a nice scoring touch. Enver should be quite impressive as he continues to develop. Young kids such as Boedker, Turris & Tikhonov all show great promise. However, we had to rely too much on our young talent this season to carry us with scoring.
3. What’s the biggest strength of the pipeline/young players?
We’ve got a ton of promise in our young players. Kyle Turris, whom I would’ve actually liked to see develop a bit more last season instead of playing with the big boys all season, will be fantastic once he matures into the player he is going to become. Turris has great hands, a sweet shot, ice awareness and creativity. Best of all he has absolutely no fear in some of the most dangerous spots on the ice. Once Mikkel Boedker learns to STOP and SHOOT at the net, he will be fantastic. I think he has great sniper ability. He’s got great speed and good hockey sense. We expect great things from him in the future. Another of my favorites is defenseman Jonas Ahnelov. Ahnelov is tuff and willing to do the little things that count. Ahnelov played down in San Antonio this season with the AHL farm team and showed great promise… though he struggled with his health some this past season. He was set to fight for a spot on the roster with the big team during training camp until he broke a finger during the pre-season. He then was injured during a fight not long after and struggled some after that. I’m interested to see how he performs during training camp again next season and hopes he does well.
Say it with me: "Forward is not a concern"
4. Where is the biggest hole in the pipeline/young players?
We really don’t have too many holes, I’d that they’re just young and need to grow and gain experience. We’ve made some significant changes since Don Maloney took over as GM and he’s made some great draft choices. We’ve got some promising talent developing and the future looks bright for us, on the ice. We seem to have young, talented forwards aplenty, I’d like to see a few more solid defense prospects join the ranks. One defenseman you should look out for in the near future is Mesa, AZ native Dave Spina; currently playing for the Coyotes AHL affiliate. Spina came and played some in Phoenix this year when Kurt Sauer was on IR and given time, I think Spina will be impressive.
5. Who do you think your GM will pick?
Brayden Schenn. He’s easily the 2nd best forward available this year and could possibly still be available when we get to our 6th pick. Though in my personal opinion, I’d prefer to see us trade a high draft pick for an established goal scorer or top defenseman.
6. Who do you think your team SHOULD pick?
I’d personally like for us to pick Jared Cowen. I think he’s got a chance at being a franchise defenseman and would love to have him on the Coyotes. He’s only slightly trailing behind Hedman in the talent category and has a bright future ahead of him in the National Hockey League.
______________________________________
When you look at the current Coyotes roster, it’s hard to make any kind of argument that doesn’t revolve around choosing a defenseman. Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek are nice pieces, but they are the only defensemen at the NHL level right now that are under the age of 28. Ed Jovanovski isn’t going to be around forever—and I get the feeling that some Yotes fans wouldn’t be so sad to see him go.
Check out the young talent that the Coyotes have upfront and it just strengthens the argument for the selection of a blueliner. Mikkel Boedker, Peter Mueller, Kyle Turris and Viktor Tikhonov are all blue chip prospects that will most likely be scoring in the NHL for years and years to come. When Phoenix looks at their NEEDS, scoring isn’t one of them. Do you think they could draft a good bankruptcy attorney in the 1st round?
Looking at the actual TEAM in the desert, things could be a lot worse. I know that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but wait until we get to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. There’s a team that has a new GM, some high priced guys that are virtually unmovable and very few tradable assets. I’m sure the guys at Pension Plan Puppets will have a few things to say about that.
A huge thanks to Heather over at SaveTheCoyotes.com. If you want to know what’s going on in regards to the Coyotes and you want a perspective that’s not Canadi-centric, you should check out their site. They’ve been staying on top of all of the legal news—and I’m sure they’ll stay strong over the summer with news about the Coyotes and the upcoming season. Aside from the site, you can follow Heather at @TheYotesDiva over on Twitter. Plenty of updates, and currently, lots of “woohoo’s” about a certain court case.
We’re going to take a break tomorrow, because… well, its Sunday. Go do something besides sit on the internet! Come Monday, we’ll be back at it with a look at CBC’s and TSN’s own private team: the Toronto Maple Leafs. As usual, you can check out the previews that we’ve already published as well as check out the upcoming schedule of Draft Previews we have lined-up over the next week.
