The Arizona Coyotes are officially ten games into the season, and things are progressing nicely. Arizona isn’t on top of the league, but they are beating the teams they should and are showing real progress over last season. After defeating the Montréal Canadiens last night, the Coyotes are 5-4-1 on the season and third in their division behind only the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.
Can this last? It is still early to say. The Coyotes certainly look improved, but there is still a lot of hockey left to play. But there is reason for hope as we look through some positives and negatives of the first ten games.
Positive: The kids are alright.
Success this season is going to rely on the Coyotes’ young players performing well, and so far, they are playing exceptionally well. Logan Cooley currently leads all rookies with eight points (one goal and seven assists), and Matias Maccelli has so far avoided the sophomore slump with the same. The newly acquired Sean Durzi has played very well in his first ten games with the Coyotes, and with four goals and three assists, he leads all Coyotes’ defensemen with seven points. Even the 23-year-old Jack McBain is looking much better in his second full season with the Desert Dogs, and with four goals already, he is on track to set a new career-high in goals scored.
The one young player not being talked about as much is forward Dylan Guenther, who was assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners out of training camp. Guenther is off to a great start in Tucson, with five points in six games in the AHL. Fans may be frustrated that he isn’t wearing a Kachina jersey right now, but as we saw last night with Juraj Slafkovský, it is best if you don’t rush players when they aren’t ready for full-time NHL duty. Although, given Michael Carcone has been playing very well and is not far removed from his first NHL hat trick, Guenther may wait a bit longer before there is a spot open for him.
Negative: Too many penalties.
This was a problem last season and appears to be an issue against this season. The Coyotes have taken 56 penalties through ten games, the fourth most in the NHL. In actual penalty minutes, they are number one with 172.
There are some silver linings, though. Arizona has drawn more penalties than they have taken, which is good, and they haven’t had any bench minors, which was a significant issue last season.
Of course, when it comes to penalties, the question will always be, can you kill them off? Unfortunately, the Coyotes are struggling with that. The PK is ranked 27th in the NHL, killing only 72.2% of their opponents’ power plays. That is not an ideal scenario, and it could prove to be the Coyotes’ Achilles heel moving forward.
Positive: The power play is pretty good.
Special teams are a mixed bag for the Desert Dogs this season. Their penalty kill is awful, but their power play is tenth in the NHL.
Arizona has scored ten power play goals through ten games and has given up no short-handed goals. Cooley leads the way with six power play points, all assists, while Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz are behind him with four points each.
Surprisingly enough, Durzi only has two power play points, both being goals. Durzi has as many 5-on-5 goals as he does power play goals, which is good for a defenseman.
Negative: Barrett Hayton is still pointless.
This one feels a bit unfair, but it is something that stands out. Hayton is currently pointless through ten games despite being on the Coyotes’ top line with Keller and Schmaltz.
But it does seem too early to be concerned about that.
Despite being left off the scoresheet, Hayton has been playing good hockey. He doesn’t look out of place on the top line, and he has had a few great looks, but he just hasn’t found the back of the net yet.
It’s also clear that his play isn’t bringing down his linemates. Nick Schmaltz leads the Coyotes with ten points, and Keller is second with nine. Both players are one of five players with four goals on the season.
Now, just because Keller and Schmaltz are playing well doesn’t absolve Hayton, who will hopefully start scoring soon. But he is doing the right things and will hopefully find the back of the net very soon.