Stone can step up in a big way, Arizona will have to rely heavily on their goaltenders to keep opponents in check. Goaltending Mike Smith returns once again to be the starting goaltender for the Coyotes. Smith hasn’t quite been able to repeat the success of his 2011-12 season but has been a steady presence keeping this Coyotes team competitive. Smith’s goals against average was middling at 2.64 last season but his save percentage was a strong .915. Without any great defensive defensemen in front of him, it’s difficult to see Smith returning to his 2012 form, but he’s also not the problem in Arizona. Smith’s backup last season was Thomas Greiss, a player who performed very well in relief to earn a 2.29 goals against average. Greiss is now gone to Pittsburgh and Arizona has brought in former Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk as his replacement. Dubnyk’s statistics last year may seem like a disaster on the surface, but every goalie who played for Edmonton struggled behind what was a wretched defense. Dubnyk is a much better player than last year’s 3.43 goals against average would indicate. Power Play If there’s one area where the Coyotes should excel, it’s on the power play. That unit takes full advantage of the offensive skills of defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle. With both players being a threat to score from the blue line, it spreads out the defense and opens things up for players like Shane Doan and Mikkel Boedker to score goals in front of the net. Antoine Vermette and Martin Hanzal were also key contributors. However, the team also will not return Radim Vrbata, who tied Doan for the most power play goals on Arizona last season with ten. It will be up to new players like Sam Gagner and Max Domi, along with returning Coyotes such as Lauri Korpikoski, to fill the void left by Vrbata’s departure. As long as one of those players is up to the task, the power play should be one of the strengths of this Arizona team. Penalty Kill Mike Smith PHOTO/NHL/Getty Images Just as having good offensive defensemen helps the Coyotes have a strong power play, having a lack of good defensive defensemen hurts their penalty killing unit. Arizona killed just 79.0 percent of their penalties last season, a mark that ranked a dismal 26th in the NHL. If anything, Ekman-Larsson is Arizona’s best option on penalty kills, although even he doesn’t really provide the high-level ability to gain control of the puck that the Coyotes need. The key for Arizona will be to have centers like Antoine Vermette win faceoffs in the defensive zone and force the opponent to go back into their own zone to retrieve the puck. Arizona’s best strategy will be to stall as long as possible, but even that strategy won’t take them very far unless somebody emerges as a dominant defender. Short of Mike Smith becoming a Vezina Trophy candidate again, expect Arizona to struggle on the penalty kill once again. Three Questions 1. Can Mike Smith re-discover the 2012 form that made him a finalist to win the Vezina Trophy? Unfortunately, it’s looking like that season was an aberration, both for Smith and for the Coyotes. Smith has never been that kind of goalie before and hasn’t been that kind of goalie since. His career goals against average is 2.85, and while he’s likely to perform better than that mark this season, miracles should not be expected. 2. Who is going to step up on defense and on the penalty kill? One player to watch out for is David Schlemko. Even though Schlemko has never played a full season, he should be hitting the prime of his career at 27 years old and led last year’s Coyotes in relative Corsi, a statistic that estimates a team’s shot differential when a player is on the ice. The defensive outlook in Arizona is somewhat bleak, but Schlemko could potentially emerge as a solution. 3. Where is the offense going to come from? Shane Doan is now 38 years old and can’t be a top scorer on this team forever. There are a number of players on this team who are good but not great scorers. Those include Mikkel Boedker, Antoine Vermette, Sam Gagner, and Martin Hanzal. The 24-year-old Boedker probably has the most upside, but already took a big step up to score 51 points last season. Prediction Even though the Coyotes have a great coach in Dave Tippett, they simply lack the talent necessary to be a true contender in the Western Conference. This team can make the playoffs if Mike Smith plays well, but it’s more likely that they’ll end up missing out on postseason play.
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