Pacific division is worse than the Central, so because the Coyotes and Jets had the same number of points, Coyotes go first.
Jon Chayka is the youngest GM in the NHL. He’s 26 and is the youngest GM in NHL history. His is a hard job: face an oncoming surge of pessimism and criticism while rebuilding an extremely young team.
In order to make his job easier – call it Millenial empathy – here’s some things Chayka needs to focus on.
1. Free Agents/Free Agency
The amount of free agents on this Coyotes team is insane. Seriously, everybody is a free agent from this roster this year. In order to even have a somewhat contentious roster next year, Chayka will need to figure out which free agents to keep and which to cut free.
Included in this list of free agents are captain Shane Doan, newly acquired Alex Tanguay, Boyd Gordon, Viktor Tikhonov, Jiri Sekac, Sergei Plotnikov, Kyle Chipchura, Tobias Reider, Jarred Tinordi, Klas Dahlbeck, Kevin Connauton, and Michael Stone. See – everybody.
This essentially leaves the core for the Coyotes – Duclair & Domi, Vermette, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson – but not much else.
This is a decision Chayka can’t take lightly. Because of ownership, Chayka will not be able to get much past the cap floor, but he should be shopping in every aspect of the game. And he should re-sign Shane Doan. Even in his advanced age he led the team in goals and he deserves to be a Coyote lifer. It would be a mistake for Chayka in the locker room to have one of his first decisions be letting go of the captain.
2. Goaltending
The Coyotes have their goaltender of the future in Louis Domingue. The thing is, he’s not proven to be the goalie of the right now. They need to find someone who’s not Mike Smith to be their bridge guy until Domingue is more proven and has a better defense in front of him.
Smith is too inconsistent to be worthy of his contract, and with the Coyotes needing to save money, it might be worthy of effort to find a trade partner for Smith and turn right around and trade for another older goaltender – Pekka Rinne or Henrik Lundqvist – so they have someone to work with Domingue. With a good goaltender and their current core, this is a team that could go somewhere and fast.
The market is there for Mike Smith, it would give Domingue an esteem boost to know the GM has trust in him.
3. Seventh Overall
The one team I could see trading up within the top 10, the Coyotes don’t have need for a young defenseman – that’s what their defensive core is entirely made of. What they need is another wing to make the Domi-Duclair line a full line for the future. Matthew Tkachuk could be that guy, and the Oilers could trade back and draft defense. The only issue is what the Coyotes give up, but their system is one of the best in the league, so even their fourth liners in the AHL are worth something.
The team has depth at both center and right wing for prospects, what they need is a leftie – a perfect role for Tkachuk.
4. Convincing Management
Theres a few things Chayka should try to convince management of – moving back to Phoenix will bring in more money, and more money to bring in more talent will make more money.
Chayka is the type of GM that should be able to play moneyball, but he shouldn’t have to. If he is given an actual competitive cap, he will be able to make the best team possible, and rebuilding, which could potentially drive away fans, will be more brief. Nothing is going to make the Coyotes money more than getting back to the playoffs, except the impossibility of trading for home grown Auston Matthews.
Also, rewarding the fan base with an easier to access stadium (still in Arizona) will bring in the money to compensate for the bigger cap.
Chayka will have a hard year, but if he finds success he will be able to Chayk it off, Chayk it off.