Arizona Coyotes: Clayton Keller leads exciting young team
After a busy offseason, Clayton Keller and the Arizona Coyotes have the potential to be this year’s surprise NHL team.
The Arizona Coyotes 2017-18 season was a bit of a roller coaster ride. It started with a historically awful beginning but ended with an impressive run. During the month of March, the Coyotes finally started to look like a fringe playoff team. Unfortunately, it was far too late for Clayton Keller and the rest of the crew.
If the Coyotes can build off their strong finish, they could be this year’s New Jersey Devils. No one expected them to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2017-18. But the NHL is funny and there’s usually at least one team who shocks everyone by making the playoffs. Led by Keller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, this could be the Coyotes turn.
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
On paper, Arizona only finished with 70 points. But considering how badly they started, if they can build off of that and have a few pucks bounce their way, in a really weak Pacific Division, the Coyotes have an intriguing ceiling.
Offseason Review
The biggest thing the Yotes did this summer was re-signing Ekman-Larsson to an eight-year deal. They needed to get it done and they had to overpay him. But it doesn’t matter because the Coyotes finally kept the kind of talent you’d expect a small market team to lose. That’s much needed good news for a franchise desperately needing some.
Last season, the Coyotes lacked goal scoring. To address this issue, they traded Max Domi for Alex Galchenyuk of the Montreal Canadiens. Both players needed a fresh start. However, it’s pretty clear Galchenyuk is the more intriguing player because he’s merely two years removed from scoring 30 goals. He fell out of favor in Montreal, but if this change in scenery gets him back to his goal scoring ways, watch out.
Michael Grabner, who got a three-year deal worth $10.5 million overall, is a flawed player who’s pretty much a two-trick pony. But his two tricks are nice ones to have – he can score goals and he’s fast. In a third line role, Grabner should be able to give the Coyotes at least 15 to 20 goals. He should be a nice addition to their penalty kill as well.
Jordan Oesterle was an afterthought in the trade that sent Marian Hossa‘s deal to Arizona. In a small sample size, he did really well for the Chicago Blackhawks last season. Injuries and depth issues forced him to play over 20 minutes a night and Oesterle managed to hold his own.