Offensive readiness and goaltending leading concerns for Phoenix Coyotes -NHL Update
Phoenix Coyotes made franchise history this past 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season by ending it on top of the Pacific Division for the first time and in the playoffs as well by breaking the Western Conference Finals barrier and nearly
getting to the Stanley Cup showdown.
Next season will be one with even higher expectations, but meeting those does not seem at that to easy for a team facing a number of issues at the moment.
The biggest problem for the Glendale, Arizona, based team is a lack of stability in terms of ownership and financial matters, which has led to team captain and veteran leader, Shane Doan, considering moving on to another club with September 15th
set as the deadline.
It is not quite clear where Doan is headed but if the desert team does not manage to fix these issues by time, he will move and Doan’s agent, Terry Bross, has made that clear to a number of teams including San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia
Flyers.
Phoenix also lost Ray Whitney over the offseason as the veteran forward signed on with Dallas Stars after becoming an unrestricted free agent and losing Doan would only worsen the situation to limits beyond immediate repair. Collectively, both players contributed
46 goals and 127 points in total, putting Phoenix in a real tight spot for sure.
Mike Smith, Phoenix’s young goalie, had an amazing breakout season and was a major reason for their spectacular performance in the regular season and playoffs. With a .944 save percentage in the playoffs, Smith is looking to repeat next year and get even
better, which is the need of the moment also for the Coyotes hands down.
Players like Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker need to continue producing numbers to cover up for the mishaps over the offseason like they did the previous hockey year and without a solid contribution from them, Phoenix might be better off not even trying.
Phoenix will also be focusing on reforming their army of young players and need them to step of as well, that will especially be the case if Shane Doan also decides to call on another team for the upcoming season.
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