Puck Prose
Fansided

Arizona Coyotes: 2019-20 season preview, predictions

By Dave Stevenson

DALLAS, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Ilya Lyubushkin #46, Kevin Connauton #44 and Lawson Crouse #67 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate a goal against the Dallas Stars in the second period at American Airlines Center on February 04, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Ilya Lyubushkin #46, Kevin Connauton #44 and Lawson Crouse #67 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate a goal against the Dallas Stars in the second period at American Airlines Center on February 04, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
arizona coyotes
Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images /

Strengths

Goaltending

Goaltending can be a huge factor in the NHL. It can turn a fringe-postseason team into a playoff team. The Coyotes have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league, as they finished last season with the sixth-best team save percentage in the NHL (.913%). This was despite not having their starter after the month of November.

A lot of this was due to the success of Darcy Kuemper, who posted a .925% save percentage. Among goaltenders who played in at least 40 games, this ranked fifth in the league. And he was second among goalies with at least 50 appearances. Kuemper’s save percentage was .920% during the 2017-18 season, so perhaps last season was more than a fluke.

Meanwhile, Raanta has some of the best numbers of any goaltender in the league over the past four seasons. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, he ranks sixth among all goalies in GSAA (goals saved above average) during all situations. If Raanta is healthy and plays as well as he had in recent years, there might not be a more reliable tandem in the league.

Penalty Kill

In general, the Coyotes defense was great last season. They had to make some adjustments and played a defense-first system. The Coyotes finished the season allowing the sixth-fewest goals per game in the league.

But their penalty kill really stood out. The Coyotes killed 85% of their penalties last season, which was tied for first in the NHL. They also scored 16 shorthanded goals. Only the Calgary Flames (18) had more and only the Columbus Blue Jackets allowed fewer power play goals.

While there was some luck involved, their process was very strong. The Coyotes allowed the 11th-fewest expected shorthanded goals against per hour. They obviously have strong goaltending, so maybe they can outperform their expected numbers again.

Home/Arizona Coyotes