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Understandably, almost the entirety of the Arizona Coyotes' actions at the Trade Deadline were focused on the future. But there's still the uncomfortable matter of the present.
The team Arizona will ice for the duration of the season is going to be fairly young and hard pressed to score goals. But, given the way the season has progressed, those facts should be anything but surprising.
The Forwards
| Martin Erat | Sam Gagner | Shane Doan |
| Lauri Korpikoski | Mark Arcobello | Tobias Rieder |
| Tye McGinn | Kyle Chipchura | Craig Cunningham |
| B.J. Crombeen | Joe Vitale | David Moss |
Extras: TBD
That's going to be bad. How bad?
Total number of goals scored by active Coyotes forwards: 65
— Travis (@NewTravisHair) March 2, 2015
This bad.
Arizona's already glaring goal-scoring problems will become even more pronounced, and their center depth is severely hindered by both Antoine Vermette's departure and Martin Hanzal's injury. Mark Arcobello should not be the second line center, but he will likely have to be for the rest of the year.
The upside to this setup is that the Coyotes will have plenty of room to plus in their waiver wire acquisitions, while simultaneously giving some of their younger forwards the chance to play top six minutes. With all the hype surrounding Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, it's up to Lessio and Rieder to prove they have something to offer too.
The Defense
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | Michael Stone |
| Brandon Gormley | Connor Murphy |
| Klas Dahlbeck | John Moore |
Extras: Andrew Campbell
A already young defense lost its two most veteran players in Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek. Young defenses are typically not good defenses, and the Coyotes will also have a lot of trouble keeping the puck out of their net.
The defensive situation for Arizona will likely be in a state of flux for a while. Stone and Murphy are both right handed shots, which are increasingly hard to find in the NHL these days. Dahlbeck and Moore are not known as point producers, so it's possible Dave Tippett moves them up and down the depth chart to try and balance out offensive and defensive blueliners.
The Goalies
| Mike Smith |
| Louis Domingue |
AHL: Mike McKenna, David Leggio
With news that Louis Domingue will stay with the NHL club for the rest of the season, it looks like the goaltending situation is pretty much settled. The only thing that could shake it up now is injury.
This roster looks pretty weak, and is clearly meant to play out the string. Expect quite a few changes between now and next September, but for now, get ready for the stretch run. It's going to feel a lot longer than 20 games.
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