With 20 games in the books, the Arizona Coyotes are exactly where it seemed like they would be going into the season. They are on the outside looking in, but a Wild Card spot is still well within reach. They are a far from perfect team, with a lot of flaws, but there are a few surprising bright spots.
So, with the season a quarter of the way done, I wanted to share some thoughts about how the Coyotes are performing and what to expect from the rest of the season.
Lawson Crouse
If you had told me who would be leading the Coyotes in goals at this point in the season, I would have said Clayton Keller. Keller is no slouch, and with eight goals, he is second on the team, but first is The Sherriff, Lawson Crouse.
After being pointless in his first five games, Crouse’s offense goalscoring exploded as soon as the calendars flipped over to November. All ten of his goals have been scored in November, as Crouse went from the bottom of the team sheet to the top.
There are some questions about the sustainability of this. Crouse’s previous high is 24 goals in 77 games, so it seems unlikely that this pace will continue, and Crouse hits 40 goals for the first time in his career. But only two of his goals were scored on a power play, so Crouse has the potential to set a new career high. But ultimately, the Coyotes are lucky to have some secondary scoring.
Penalties
The Arizona Coyotes are second in total penalty minutes with 284, 40 more than the third-place Montréal Canadiens. They lead the league in penalty minutes per game, averaging 14 minutes and 12 seconds per game.
Penalties not only give their opponents an easy chance to score, which they have been, more on that later, but they also kill any momentum for the Desert Dogs. We saw that in the game against the St. Louis Blues when the Blues had seven power plays in the first 40 minutes. Even though the Blues failed to convert on any of their opportunities, Arizona was restricted to just ten shots in 40 minutes and ultimately lost the game 2-1.
The Coyotes are still building up their talent and are still a young team, so penalties are to be expected as players get caught out of position and are forced to take a penalty to save a goal. That is expected, but the Desert Dogs need to find some way to stay out of the box, or they can kiss any chance at a playoff spot goodbye.
Special Teams
The Arizona Coyotes’ power play is currently ranked seventh in the NHL, just behind the Edmonton Oilers. Their penalty kill is ranked 13th, better than it was at the start of the season, but not good enough to compensate for the number of penalties they are taking. They are also one of six teams not to score a short-handed goal yet this season.
The Coyotes’ power play has been good, and it has been keeping the team in games. Clayton Keller leads the team with ten power play points, followed by Logan Cooley with nine, Nick Schmaltz with seven, and Sean Durzi with six. My only complaint is that the power play is more about keeping teams in games and not expanding the Coyotes’ lead and helping them finish off their opponents.
The Yotes’ penalty kill is undoubtedly getting better, but it needs to be near perfect for a team that takes as many penalties as the Coyotes do. If the Coyotes were middle of the pack in terms of penalties taken, 13th would be respectable, and we have seen some great moments of the Coyotes’ killing penalties. Their last game saw the Desert Dogs preserve a Connor Ingram shutout with two men in the box, which was great to see, but if there is one aspect of the Coyotes’ game that needs to be better by default, it is the penalty kill.
The Top Line
With 19 points in 20 games, the Coyotes’ top point man this season is Clayton Keller, who is coming off a monster 86-point season. Nick Schmaltz is tied for second with Matias Maccelli with a respectable 16 points in 20 games. Bring up the rear is Barrett Hayton, who was just starting to heat up with four points in his last five games before being sidelined with injuries.
Even accounting for Hayton’s slump to start the season, the Coyotes’ top line has been producing, but it could do better. Over half of Keller’s points have come on the power play, not 5-on-5, while Schmaltz is just under half.
It may be that other teams are scouting them better, but the Coyotes’ top line is going to have to find a way to do more. They have been held off the scoresheet in some key games, and the team needs more from them during 5-on-5 play.
Matias Maccelli
Last season’s biggest surprise, Matias Maccelli, is doing his best to prove it wasn’t a fluke. The Finnish forward has 16 points to start the season, with all but four coming 5-on-5. His line with Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse has been the Coyotes’ most consistent line of the season, as the 23-year-old is proving to be a phenomenal playmaker.
Maccelli has been held off the scoresheet only six times this season. After being quiet his first three games, he responded with a nine-game point streak, the longest of any Coyotes’ player this season. There is a real case to be made that Maccelli is the Coyotes’ most consistent player to start this season.
Goaltending
Through 20 games this season, both Connor Ingram and Karel Vejmelka have started ten games, and each has been pulled once. Through that, Ingram has a 2.64 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage, while Vejmelka has a 3.45 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.
Based on raw numbers, Ingram may be working his way into the starter job, ending what has been an even split between the two netminders. Saturday’s 34-save shutout win against the Golden Knights certainly makes a strong case for Ingram to be given the chance to take the role.
But it does seem a little premature to throw Veggie under the bus. The team seems to play better in front of Ingram, which could have something to do with their comfort level or could be due to an unrelated third factor. Additionally, outside of the Vegas game, Vejmelka seems to have had a heavier workload than his counterpart.
Barring something drastic happening, I think the Coyotes will keep using both goaltenders as a tandem moving forward. But Ingram is making a solid case to be the 1a, and if he keeps standing on his head, he will likely earn that role. He may already be starting down that path with the announcement that Ingram will get the start tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Michael Carcone
The biggest surprise to start this season has to be forward Michael Carcone. Carcone has spent much of his career in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, and he is three games away from setting a new career high in games played. He has already set career highs in goals scored (7), assists (3), and points (10), and he registered his first NHL hat trick on October 30th against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Carcone isn’t the biggest reason the Coyotes are in the position they are in, but he definitely is contributing to the Yotes’ success. Teams need secondary scoring, and the 27-year-old is helping with that.
Logan Cooley
Cooley has looked good in his first professional season, but he isn’t playing like a game-breaker just yet. His numbers are respectable, 2-11-13 through his first 20 games, but he is getting most of his points (9) on the power play, not 5-on-5, which can be a bit of a concern.
Cooley has spent most of his time with Jason Zucker and Michael Carcone, but with Barrett Hayton week-to-week with an injury, he has found a spot on the top line with Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller. It is still early, but the experiment could pay off if his assist on the Keller goal against the Vegas Golden Knights is any indication.
Unless Cooley really heats up with Keller and Schmaltz, there is a case to be made for giving him easier minutes against weaker competition in his first season. Ultimately, Cooley is playing well, and head coach André Tourigny seems to have a handle on his development.