I was at the Islanders game, I was at the game tonight, and I'll be at the game in Philly on Monday where it seems likely they'll set the record for longest winless streak to start a season.
Tonight was f***ing embarrassing. Absolutely miserable to watch.
There has been no f***ing progress made on any semblance of a system, and players are chasing the puck. That's why there are so many individual lapses from previously successful players.
There has been no progress made on the ability to put together a full game of effort. You can count on at least one long stretch every single game wherein they bury themselves into a hole that they do not have the skill or structure to climb out of. I don't know whether this is a mental problem or a physical one, but it's a major issue.
There has been no progress made on individual effort level. Player to player, guys are passive, standing around, waiting for someone else to do something. The 5-on-2.5 powerplay they had against the Isles on Tuesday where no one bothered to move his feet made me want to spit.
The single bright spot this season has been Clayton Keller, and while he seems to exist external to the team itself in his ability to make plays out of nothing, even he seems to be showing signs of being subsumed into whatever Medieval illness that is plaguing the rest of the roster.
I don't see a reason to shake things up with a trade. The personnel looks fine to me. But if every single player is falling short of what he's capable of, then either the coaching staff needs to try something different, or we need to try a different coaching staff.
The Coyotes have not won a game since April. I was excited for this season, but I'm not even sure a win would feel good right now.