GLENDALE, Ariz – The Arizona Coyotes have reached the mid-point of the 2014-15 season, which seems like as good a time as any to assess the team’s performance so far.
First, there’s the team’s record, which stands at 16 wins, 21 losses, and 4 OT losses for a total of 36 points. That puts the Coyotes in 27th place in the league standings, two points behind the New Jersey Devils, who have played three more games. That places them second-to-last in both the Pacific Division and the Western Conference, above 
only the Edmonton Oilers. The team has scored 94 goals, which ties them with the Devils for 27th least in the league (again, in three fewer games played). They have also given up 134 goals, which ties them with the Dallas Stars for 27th place.
That explains the basics, but it tells so little of the whole story. That is the sum of the parts, but it’s also important to look at the individual parts. How does one build a 27th place team, with a 27th place offense and a 27th place defense? It starts in the off-season, and it starts with goaltending.
Goaltending: C+
The Coyotes basically stood pat during the off-season, replacing last year’s backup with a new backup. They had re-signed starting goalie Mike Smith to a long-term contract extension, which still had five seasons remaining, so there was no urgency to try and improve. Smith had bounced back after a subpar, lockout-shortened season to post a 27-21-10 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average last season, but he missed the last month of the season with an injury and the team struggled down the stretch, narrowly missing the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
Backup goalie Thomas Greiss started the last 10 games of the season in Smith’s absence. Though his overall numbers were respectable (10-8-5, .920, 2.29), the team went 3-4-3 to end the season with him in goal. Greiss signed a free-agent contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the off-season, hoping to get more playing time and an opportunity to eventually become a starter. He is 4-2-2 in eight games this season, with a .919 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average.
To replace him, the Coyotes signed free agent goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk is a bit of a reclamation project. He is a big, standup goalie right out of the Sean Burke mold. After struggling for much of last season in Edmonton he was traded to Nashville. After only two games with the Predators, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, who sent him to their AHL affiliate in Hamilton to finish out the year. When his contract expired, he became a free agent. Not many teams had interest in him, likely believing him to have flamed out. The Coyotes signed him to be the latest pet project for Burke, whom many credit with reviving Mike Smith’s game. The results have been impressive so far. Dubnyk has posted a 9-4-2 record with one shutout, a .918 save percentage, and a 2.70 goals-against average. His record in Edmonton last season was 11-17-2 with two shutouts, a .894 save percentage, and a 3.36 goals-against average. He has exceeded expectations, showing flashes of brilliance, but his consistency has been an issue. As good as he has looked at times, he has occasionally looked equally bad. Dubnyk has been traded to the Minnesota Wild this week for a draft pick.
As for Smith, he has been inconsistent all season. He started off slow, admitting that he felt “off” and was having trouble getting comfortable between the pipes. He clearly looked out of sorts early on and many wondered if he’d ever find his game. He has improved somewhat, but consistency still plagues him. He has had games where he has held the team in the game and given them a chance to win, indeed almost single-handedly winning several games. The problem is that you never know which Mike Smith is going to show up.
Take his last five starts, for instance. On December 22nd, he was pulled in the 2nd period after giving up four goals on 11 shots against the Vancouver Canucks. On January 3rd, he beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3. He followed that up with a 6-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, and a 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Obviously, he can’t win or lose games by himself, but his play has been spotty by any measure.
All in all, the goaltending has been very good at times and very bad at times, but inconsistent at all times.
Offense: D-
The offense has been a point of contention for the Coyotes for some time now. Looking back at last season, their leading scorer was a defenseman. Their leading goal scorer finished the season with 24, which placed him just outside the top 50 in the league. Their current scoring leader sits in a tie for 77th place among the league’s top scorers. Last season, the team was 20th overall in goals scored. Two of their top five scorers from last season are gone. Radim Vrbata signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks and Mike Ribeiro was bought out of his contract and signed with the Nashville Predators. Both are well on their way to eclipsing those totals with their new teams. The Coyotes acquired Sam Gagner to partially make up for the loss of Ribeiro, and after a slow start he has performed admirably of late. But they never replaced the production of Radim Vrbata in any way. The team’s leading scorers are nearly on place to match last season’s point totals with the exception of Antoine Vermette, who is well ahead of last season’s scoring pace (although his goal production is down slightly). The team’s leading goal scorer is Mikkel Boedker with 12, which puts him on pace to match Vermette’s team-leading 24 from last season. Martin Erat, who was brought in last season to give the offense a shot in the arm, has 18 points this season. This puts him ahead of last season’s disappointing pace, but still well below his heyday in Nashville where he averaged 53 points a season over a 6-season span. Rookie Tobias Rieder has 11 points, which leads all of the youngsters by a wide margin. Any hope of the new blood coming in and injecting some life into the lackluster offense has fallen well short of expectations.
Essentially, what was a mediocre offense last season has lost two of its most potent weapons and done virtually nothing to replace them. Their entire offense depends on everybody being better than they were last season.
Defense: D-
The defense, much like the offense, finished last season in the middle of the pack. The Coyotes were 18th in the league, allowing 2.73 goals per game. So far this season, the Coyotes have surrendered 3.27 goals per game…more than half a goal more per game. Last season the team was tied for 22nd in the league in shots against, averaging 31.0 shots per game. This season they are allowing an average of 32.0 shots per game, good for 24th place.
The team made only one move during the off-season; declining to re-sign veteran defenseman Derek Morris. Morris received no offers and is now essentially retired. The defense on the ice this season for the Coyotes is virtually the same as last year, minus Morris. The team chose not to replace Morris with another veteran. Instead, everyone in the organization moves up one spot in the depth chart. Andrew Campbell played one game for the Coyotes, then was returned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. Every other defenseman to play for the team this season had seen time with the club last season.
Because of this, the defense has lacked stability. Without the steadying influence of Morris in the lineup, Yandle and Ekman-Larsson have been even more prone to the mistakes of youth. The younger players often fall into a full-blown panic. They can often turn a negative situation into an untenable one, making matters even worse. This often leads to the goaltender being buried under an avalanche of shots.
As with the offense, an average group lost a key member who was not replaced. This turned a mediocre defensive corps into a bad one. The results are predictable.
Special Teams: C+
Special teams have been a cause for celebration and a source of frustration for the Coyotes this season. Their penalty kill is 29th in the league at 74.6%, but the power play is ranked #6 at 21.8%. It’s the one strength the team can build from. Unfortunately, they rank only 19th in the league in power play opportunities, and tied for 26th on the road. This means they get fewer opportunities on the road to utilize their greatest weapon.
Given the fact that the Coyotes lost their power play specialist in Ribeiro, their success on the power play this season is encouraging. It may give them something to build on.
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