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The Kinder, Gentler Version
They were the eighth oldest team in the NHL last season.The narrative that they are moving in the right direction is soooo Coyotes. Chayka was the poster child for that ridiculous view of the team. Please god grant Armstrong the wisdom to see through that bullshit. I have to believe he at least sees it a little different by the free agents he added which should keep us from getting beaten into submission as easily. Still hoping he can pull off a big deal to change out at least one of the top six forwards and top four dmen for guys with some upside. A couple guys that can give us a little hop e for some improvement, especially when it comes to scoring goals.
They had the 10th worst record last season. They had the 13th worst record the year before that, and the 3rd worst record the year before that. They went from awful, to bad, to a little worse. And they got to be one of the oldest teams in the league in the process.
They didn't have a pick until the 5th round of the last draft, and they have no 1st or 3rd round pick in next year's draft. Their prospect pool is middle-of-the-pack, league-wide (at best, and that's very generous). With the lack of picks, it's just going to keep falling down the list as other teams who are selecting players improve their pools.
The Coyotes under 25 assets, as a whole, aren't better than half the league, either. About average.
There is no way to spin this situation as the Coyotes moving in the right direction. They've been bad every season under Tocchet and the future isn't bright. Hell, even the team they've cobbled together for next season isn't impressive. They've got one a bottom five forward group (being very kind, and generous, here, as I think it's easily the worst). They've got a middle of the road defensive group (and more than half of them are pending UFAs with ZERO D prospects coming up through the system - NONE). Their goaltending is top five in the league, though. So that's nice.