Choosing Coyotes’ first-half MVP a difficult task

GLENDALE, Ariz. — We asked 15 Coyotes media-related folks a seemingly innocuous question on Saturday: Which player is the team’s first-half MVP?

We received six different answers; an indication of how difficult it is to pick one player in this season of streaks and slumps — a season in which the Coyotes have overachieved their way into second place in the Pacific Division at the 41-game mark.

Every one of the players listed below has had spectacular stretches this season. Every one of the players below has had brutal stretches or missed significant time, making the choice all the more complex when you consider the entire body of work.

Here are the contenders. Whom would you pick?

THE CANDIDATES

Shane Doan

Pros: He is averaging the fourth-most points per game on the team at age 39 (.688). He has been on an incredible tear since returning from a groin injury injury — a 12-game stretch in which he has 12 points (nine goals) and the Coyotes are 7-2-3. Doan is shooting a gaudy 19 percent — second on the team to Anthony Duclair’s ridiculous 27.3 percent clip. Add those stats to the immeasurable presence he brings to the ice and the locker room and the captain is a strong contender.

Cons: Doan missed nine games with a groin injury. That’s 22 percent of the team’s games to date. He also got off to a brutal start that was largely the result of a groin injury he suffered in training camp but tried to gut it out when he probably should have rested it. He had just six goals and 10 points in the team’s first 20 games.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Pros: Ekman-Larsson leads the team in average ice time per game (25:11 before Saturday’s game). That’s more than three minutes higher than the next closest player, defenseman Michael Stone. No other Coyote is even averaging 19 minutes. Ekman-Larsson also plays in all situations and plays hard minutes against opponents’ top skill. Ekman-Larsson leads the Coyotes with five game-winning goals, he is tied for third among NHL defenseman with 11 goals and he leads the team in shots with 118. It’s scary to think where the Coyotes would be without him on the blue line.

Cons: Ekman-Larsson has had poor stretches this season where he has hurt the team with defensive play or mistakes with the puck. On a five-game winless road trip at the start of December, he was minus-12 and the stat was indicative of his play.

Mikkel Boedker

Pros: Boedker has been the team’s most consistent point producer since a slow start in the team’s first six games. He leads the team in assists (19) and points (31) and is second in points per game at .775. Boedker’s speed, two-way play and blossoming talent are the exact qualities the Coyotes need to keep progressing.

Cons: He got off to a rough start when he wasn’t using his speed as an asset and he is a team-high minus-14. He struggles at times in his new role as a quasi-power play quarterback. He’s not responsible for all of the team’s league-high eight short-handed goals allowed but he’s had a hand in a few through turnovers in the neutral zone or at the blue line.

Max Domi

Pros: Domi has delivered beyond all early expectations with 10 goals and 28 points (the latter mark is tied for second highest on the team). He has injected youthful energy and excitement into a team that was sorely lacking those elements and has played a responsible game at both ends, proving that an extra year in juniors was of great benefit.

Cons: Domi’s Corsi For number (per war on ice) is among the worst on the team and he is still learning how to make a consistent impact every night. As coach Dave Tippett predicted would happen with all of his rookies, Domi has hit a production wall of late. He has just three assists in his last 11 games.

Martin Hanzal

Pros: Hanzal has the highest points per game on the roster at .786 and he was nearly a point-per-game producer before a lower body injury knocked him out of the lineup. It’s been written and said ad nauseam that the Coyotes are a different team when Hanzal is in the lineup, but it is obvious how much they miss him when he is out because he touches so many areas of the game including the power play, penalty killing unit, faceoffs, net presence and a stabilizing force between wings Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair.
Cons: Hanzal has missed 13 of 41 games this season. As we noted, you could argue that his absence underscored his importance, but that’s 32 percent of the team’s games he has missed.

Louis Domingue

Pros: In eight starts since Mike Smith underwent abdominal surgery, Domingue has allowed 14 goals on 264 shots for a .947 save percentage. The Coyotes are 6-0-2 in those starts. Anders Lindback was supposed to be Smith’s main replacement, but he struggled with that opportunity. Where would the Coyotes be without Domingue?

Cons: Domingue’s performance to date is too small a sample size to form any lasting judgments or earn any imaginary hardware. The Coyotes are hoping he can sustain this level of play at least until February when Smith is scheduled to return. If he can, Tippett will have an interesting and enviable decision on his hands.

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