[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I think you might need to take a closer look... (I watched over 50 Coyotes games last yr)

The Coyotes' team defense was 5th in the league last year, allowing just 220 goals.

Their save-percentage was 6th in the NHL.

Now they've added a point-per-game winger who scored 41 more points than Galchenyuk did last year. Nick Schmaltz will be healthy; he scored at a 67-point pace with Arizona last year, which is high, but he looked electric with Keller when he wasn't injured. Keller gets to play with those two guys, having already recorded a 65-point rookie season. They also added Soderberg, who just scored 49 points last year, and Derek Stepan is probably one of the best all-around 2Cs in the Western Conference.

Hayton was a top-5 pick last year who just finished 3rd in the OHL in points/game. Grabner led the NHL in shorthanded scoring. Dvorak was injured for most of last year but scored 15 goals twice before his age-21 season ended. Hinostroza scored 16 goals and 39 points last year despite playing barely over 15 minutes a night. Brad Richardson scored 19 goals and is their 4C. Garland scored 13 goals in 47 games, a 23-goal pace, and is blazing fast.

Amazingly, Christian Fischer probably has the least upside of anyone in that main forward group, and he's still just 22 and a formerly highly-touted prospect who scored 11 goals last year in a limited role.

The Coyotes missed the playoffs by just two wins last year despite losing over 500 man-games to injury. Without that apocalyptic injury luck, I think they'd have been a safe bet for the playoffs even without adding Soderberg and Kessel. After those additions... I think this is one of the most interesting up-and-coming young teams in the NHL.

Just ignore these guys. Knowledge is power.