John Chayka: Coyotes roster needs more overhaul to reach playoffs
Jun 27, 2016, 1:04 PM
Newly appointed Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka speaks at a news conference announcing his promotion, Thursday, May 5, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. Chayka is the youngest GM in NHL history. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona Coyotes management is working to get the team back to playoff contention, but GM John Chayka cautioned fans who think the team is Stanley Cup ready.
“It’s not a successful offseason yet in my mind, by any stretch,” the rookie GM told Doug & Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Monday. “I think there’s a lot of activity to still occur… We’ve got a lot of holes in our team right now. I can’t say playoffs with any level of certainty.”
The Coyotes went 35-39-8 last season with 78 points, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year since losing the Conference Finals in 2012. They placed fourth in the Pacific Division in 2015-16 and posted the third-worst penalty kill percentage (77.3 percent) in the NHL.
Addressing a top-down organizational need for defense, Chayka and the Coyotes acquired five defensemen in two days of selections and trades this weekend at the NHL Draft. Earlier in the week, the Coyotes signed NHL veteran defenseman Alex Goligoski.
“I don’t think you win in this league without strong defense,” Chayka said. “We weren’t trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, what we were doing is, ‘Let’s place an emphasis on this. Let’s place an importance on it.’”
Last season, Connor Murphy led Coyotes defensemen in plus-minus with +5, tying him for the 167th-best plus-minus in the NHL. Chayka said he felt it was his responsibility to replenish the crop of defensive prospects.
“I wasn’t satisfied with what we had in place to date,” he said. “You walk out of the draft and you feel good about what you have coming, but it’s a long process and it’s even longer for defensemen.”
Though the development of prospects requires patience, the move to get Goligoski can have an immediate impact on the top defensive pairings for the Coyotes this season.
“Alex is a top-four defenseman all day,” Chayka said. “He’s a mobile, puck-moving, transitional-type defenseman that we think we need here to play the style of game that we want to play, to support our young forwards. He’s a guy than can eat up a lot of tough minutes and play in all situations.”
In addition to drafting four defensemen – including one in the first round – in Buffalo this weekend, the Coyotes also dealt pick No. 37 for Tampa Bay blue-line prospect Anthony DeAngelo. In 2014, DeAngelo was suspended for using derogatory language against a teammate.
“He’s a young player. He’s had some issues in the past. We did a lot of research. We’ve done a lot of research on the player, his support group, we know about him. We’re going into this thing eyes wide open. We know there’s an issue there that we need to address, and that’s what we plan on doing.”
Chayka said he thinks the former first-round pick is a “good person,” and cited a belief in his staff and the team’s culture as other reasons why DeAngelo can mature. Having veteran captain and fan favorite Shane Doan might help, too.
“Shane is a key guy. He’s the figure that he is for the Arizona Coyotes. He’s a big part of making that decision.”
Chayka noted that it’s too early to know whether their new prospects will someday contribute for the Coyotes. In the meantime, his job of building an NHL-ready roster is not yet complete.
“There’s a lot of work to be done here,” Chayka said. “There’s a couple weeks where there’s a lot of liquidity in the market still, and we’re hoping to continue to make some moves to put us in a position where [playoffs are] a reality. But today, that’s not the sense.”
