The Arizona Coyotes are in a state where many players are coming in and walking out the door rapidly. As a result, there are many individuals that left following last season to play elsewhere. The list below includes a gluttony of notable names. Some went to other NHL teams. Some went to play in Europe. Others remain as unrestricted free agents.
A Look at the Arizona Coyotes 2022 Team Departures
- Phil Kessel, Right Wing (Signed with Vegas for 1 year, $1.5 million)
- Kyle Capobianco, Defenseman (Signed with Winnipeg for 2 years, $1.53 million)
- Hudson Fasching, Right Wing (Signed with Islanders for 1 year, $750k)
- Dmitrij Jaskin, Right Wing (Signed in Russia with SKA St. Petersburg for 1 year in the KHL)
- Harri Sateri, Goaltender (Signed in the Swiss National League for EHC Biel-Bienne for 1 year)
- Loui Eriksson, Left Wing (UFA)
- Anton Stralman, Defenseman (UFA)
- Alex Galchenyuk, Center (UFA)
- Jay Beagle, Center (UFA)
- Antoine Roussel, Right Wing (UFA)
Now as I said earlier. There are some notable names that departed for other situations in the form of Phil Kessel, Alex Galchenyuk, Anton Stralman, and Loui Eriksson. But… they are just what they are, notable names. As far as their contributions to the Coyotes, the list isn’t long.
Kessel was one of the guys brought in by former general manager John Chayka, in the hopes of putting together a playoff roster. It was a move that read “quick fix” when it was announced. Kessel was okay in the desert.
He had a 20 goal season in 2020-21 and last year he racked up 52 points, although only 8 of those were goals. It’s clear that even though he was somewhat productive, his skills are declining.
He’s 34 years old and he’s not getting any younger. Even though he’s a veteran, I don’t know if you would want him being a leader in the locker room for the young guys and honestly, for the situation the Yotes are in, it’s not worth it to pay him to come back, You got to play the young guys as much as possible and give them more opportunities to flourish.
Alex Galchenyuk has lost it. To me, there is no hope of him regaining his form when he was at the start of his career with Montreal. It’s really sad for me to see him just regress the way he did and as fast as he did.
However, this is the NHL, and success is never guaranteed. Last year was actually his second stint with Arizona. In 2018-19 he played with them and had a decent year piling 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points. Last season, he came back for a reunion and it did not go well. In 60 games he only scored 6 goals and knotted 15 assists for just 21 points. He’s been on several different teams over the last few years and he’s become a journeyman. He’s still unsigned at this moment.
Anton Stralman was just acquired from Florida to make a trade work. Arizona had to take on a bad contract just to get a pick and a prospect from the Panthers. He is still unsigned at this moment. The same scenario goes for Loui Eriksson.
Vancouver wanted Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Arizona wanted picks, so the Coyotes had to take on a bad contract to get what they want. There were other depth guys that went elsewhere like Kyle Capobianco and Dmitrij Jaskin.
However, none of these losses are really a detriment to Arizona for the future. It can be viewed as a blessing since now there are roster spots left. These can obviously be used as chances for young guys to compete for roster spots and impact the NHL level.
Overall, I wouldn’t be stressing over any of these losses if I was an Arizona fan. The team is bad to begin with, so strip bad contracts and aging veterans away from the team as much as possible, especially for guys who will most likely never make an impact on a team again.