Optimism for Coyotes is finally well-founded

For all the Coyotes' struggles since they moved to Arizona, this year might bring the most reason for optimism.

Sep 22, 2016, 6:10 PM Updated: Sep 23, 2016, 11:23 am

Arizona Coyotes' Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23), of Sweden, celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames with Shane Doan, left, and Michael Stone, right, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It is human nature to see hope in another chance.

For proof in the sports world, consider Cubs fans eagerly engaging in their 108th-straight hunt to end a World Series title drought this fall, with nothing more than a distant view of baseball’s pinnacle to guide them since World War II ended just before they lost to Detroit in the 1945 Series.

Hope is more than the product of a fresh start for the Coyotes this season, however.

It is more than a blank slate, a new collection of players, new executives or new decision makers. As training camps open around the NHL, there is optimism the likes of which this franchise has not seen since moving to the Valley.

“Just walking in the rink, you feel it,” goalie Mike Smith said Thursday at Coyotes media day. “You feel a different vibe. You feel like this team can do some damage. There’s a lot of work to be done but we’ve added some pieces that are important.”

There has been optimism around the Coyotes before.

There was the shine of a new product when they arrived from Winnipeg in 1996 with a talented but ultimately flawed roster. There was anticipation when Wayne Gretzky agreed to buy a 10-percent stake in ownership in 2000. There was excitement about moving into their own building on the west side in 2003, and there was the residual buzz that accompanied the team to lockout-delayed camp after its run to the Western Conference Final in 2012.

But after 20 years of floundering, too many years of rudderless or league stewardship, and after that 2012 run was exposed as unsustainable, the Coyotes are at last building something real. They have invested in all phases of hockey operations, from scouting to development to cutting-edge NHL coaching, training and medical care. They hired a young GM to bring a fresh and analytical approach to the franchise, they signed a top-tier free agent in defenseman Alex Goligoski and they possess a deep and talented pool of prospects on which to build.

“We have the ability to replace guys now if something goes wrong or somebody doesn’t pan out,” captain Shane Doan said. “In the past, if a draft pick or a free agent didn’t work out it was really going to create a hole in the roster or the system. Now if something doesn’t work out, we at least have the ability to put somebody else in there who can contribute.”

There were signs of progress last season when the Coyotes improved from the second-worst record in the NHL (56 points) to 78 points, but progress may be a little harder to quantify this season.

“That was the easy step because where we came from, you couldn’t go much lower than that,” coach Dave Tippett said of the team’s 22-point improvement. “This year’s step, it might not be a step with as many points but they’re harder steps to take and you prove yourself as a team by your better and harder times.”

Maybe there is poetry in the timing of all these positive vibes. The team hopes to soon announce plans for a new arena on the east side of town where the majority of its fanbase and the majority of the Valley’s wealth base still resides. With 20 years — a human generation — behind them, the Coyotes are finally starting to see the fruits of their off-ice labor in homegrown fans and an improved youth hockey scene that has produced national success and the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Scottsdale product Auston Matthews.

Kids are growing up on Coyote hockey, so it seems fitting that a talented group of kids will lead the Coyotes into that future, from Max Domi, Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun and Christian Fischer, to their young GM, John Chayka, who quickly erased doubts about his aptitude and experience with a summer of wheeling, dealing and never sleeping.

“You’ve got to be careful with optimism because there’s 29 other teams that have a lot of optimism, too, but I think ours is genuine,” Chayka said. “I told the guys the other day we’re not looking to be a mediocre team. We’re trying to be the best and we certainly feel we have the skilled players to get there, but it’s going to take some time to get there.”

Patience may be a hard pill for Coyotes fans to swallow after so many years without playoff success or even playoff berths, but it may require another year of progress before the Coyotes can return to professional sports’ greatest postseason. However this season plays out, the franchise finally appears to be tilling fruitful soil, and if it’s any consolation, the precocious harvests of that labor aren’t really interested in long-term plans.

“That’s exactly it,” Domi said. “This organization has been through a lot and we’re all really excited about what we have going for our future, but talk is cheap. We have to find a way to put that on the ice. It’s time to put our head down and work.

“You can only talk about the future for so long. The future needs to turn into now, and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

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