2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Phoenix Coyotes
by James Mirtle on Sep 26, 2009 11:00 AM CDT
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Who's in: Adrian Aucoin, Vernon Fiddler, Lauri Korpikoski, Jason LaBarbera, Taylor Pyatt, Jim Vandermeer, Radim Vrbata
Who's out: Nigel Dawes, Todd Fedoruk, David Hale, Dmitri Kalinin, Ken Klee, Enver Lisin, Brian McGrattan, Brandon Prust, Steven Reinprecht
Outlook: Few eyes were on the Coyotes on-ice woes in the summer.
With the team awash in debt and owner Jerry Moyes unwilling to offset losses that rose to about $30-million on hockey operations in 2008-09 alone, the club was put into bankruptcy in early May with Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie offering a $212.5-million stalking horse bid to buy and relocate the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario.
The resulting court battle made front page news throughout the rest of the playoffs and into the off-season, and in many ways, has overshadowed anything that GM Don Maloney did with the player personnel.
Despite the financial turmoil, however, Phoenix kept its payroll relatively level, trading Steve Reinprecht and waiving Nigel Dawes but adding some useful parts in defencemen Adrian Aucoin and Jim Vandermeer along with former 27-goal man Radim Vrbata and checking forward Vernon Fiddler.
This will again be one of the youngest teams in the league, and its compete level will come down to gains made by the youth already on the roster. Expect more from the likes of Peter Mueller, Matt Lombardi, Martin Hanzal and Mikkel Boedker, all of whom have at least 50-point potential in the right environment and will get plenty of ice time to do so this season.
Where Phoenix desperately needs to improve is on special teams, as they were in the basement in both categories last season, and having a deeper veteran defence core should ease some of the load on players in those situations.
Ultimately, the pieces are here for some upward momentum, but the nasty off-ice battle will likely influence how the team performs and potential salary cuts Maloney has to make. If the Coyotes can make the postseason amidst the bankruptcy proceedings and falling attendance, it'll be one of the top stories of this season.
The odds are against it.
X-factor: Martin Hanzal
For a more in-depth Coyotes preview, visit Five For Howling
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook
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15th. Sorry, just not seein’ it this season.
by red army line on Sep 26, 2009 2:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
There is literally nowhere for this team to go but up.
If the Coyotes can play at 80% of what they played last night against San Jose, I’m guessing 11th at least. :P
You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
by zyllyx on Sep 27, 2009 10:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
One of the best offseason upgrades in the league.
Trading Gretzky for Tippett made this team much more dangerous. They may not make the playoffs, but they’ll be competitive down to the wire. Nine points separated 6th place from 12th in the West last year; and Phoenix was only four points behind that. The Tippett upgrade alone ought to be worth 10 points, which would put the Yotes right in the mix for the last couple playoff spots.
by BleedBlue42 on Sep 28, 2009 8:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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