Offseason Review: Arizona Coyotes

Now that the dust has settled on a wild NHL offseason, let's take a look at how each team did in regards to drafting and free-agent signings. To start, we'll examine the Arizona Coyotes.

This was a particularly unusual year in Arizona. With reports that the team has an internal cap of just $70 million or less, some trades were made that are not necessarily going to make the team better. The idea, seemingly, is to fill up the cupboards with young prospects and draft picks, and go for a lottery win in the highly-skilled 2022 and 2023 Drafts.

Free Agents:

Not much to be said here, considering most of the signings involving Coyotes players involved them departing for other teams. However, a couple players of note did join the squad. The Coyotes signed former Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton to a one-year deal, along with DMan Ben Hutton (no relation), and forwards Dmitri Jaskin, Liam O'Brien, and Ryan Dzingel. Dzingel will make for a good trade deadline piece, which will allow the Coyotes to bring in even more draft picks.

Speaking of draft picks, the Coyotes became the NHL's cap dump this offseason, as long as teams handed over a few picks to make it worth their while. The Yotes brought in Andrew Ladd, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Anton Stralman. They also added Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, and Jay Beagle in a deal that saw Oliver Ekmann-Larsson and Connor Garland headed to Vancouver. Josef Korenar was acquired in exchange for Adin Hill, with Arizona giving up a 2022 7th round pick in this deal. All in all, the Coyotes added 5 picks to their cupboards for the 2022 Draft. They will draft 7 times in the first two rounds next summer.

Grade: A-; Not necessarily because they've built a competitive team, but for what their end goal was, they've succeeded quite nicely.

Draft:

Possibly the biggest steal of the draft went to Arizona, who saw top prospect Dylan Guenther fall all the way to 9th overall (he was projected to go between 3rd and 5th), where they used Vancouver's 1st round pick obtained in the OEL and Garland deal to draft him. Guenther scored 24 points in 12 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings this year. He is widely regarded as the best pure goal scorer from this year's draft. Vancouver may be kicking themselves for giving up that pick, although Garland is no slouch himself.

In the second round, the Coyotes added Josh Doan, the son of Arizona legend Shane Doan, who still holds the franchise's goals, assists, points, and games played records. Doan projects as more of a playmaker, but his skills are absolutely viable in the NHL. They also drafted Ilya Fedotov, a big left-wing puck retriever, and Janis Moser, an all-around defender with strong skating ability.

Grade: B; Nothing flashy outside of Guenther, but with four picks in the top 60 a couple of them will almost certainly pan out. Adding Doan was a nice touch as well.

Overall grade: B+; It could be a long '21-'22 season for Coyotes fans, but the future is very bright in Arizona.

How do you think the Arizona Coyotes did this offseason?

Photo credit: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports