The Arizona Coyotes could be a team to watch during the 2023-24 regular season.
And no, I’m not joking.
After spending years as the butt of every joke in the NHL, Arizona actually started to build something last season.
That may seem like high praise for a team that finished with 70 points, good enough for 27th place in a 32-team league, but don’t forget the Coyotes were the betting favorites to finish in last place in 2022-23.
| To win the Stanley Cup 200/1 (Caesars) |
| To win Western Conference 80/1 (PointsBet) |
| To win Central Division 200/1 (DraftKings) |
| To make the playoffs +750 (BetMGM) |
Relative to expectations, last season was actually a success for Arizona.
While the Coyotes have been deservingly derided for their lack of spending in the past few years, the team bucked the trend this summer and made some shrewd additions to a young, emerging roster.
Arizona took advantage of the Los Angeles Kings’ salary-cap issues by acquiring top-four defenseman Sean Durzi for pennies on the dollar and then bolstered their blueline even further with the signing of Matt Dumba.
Arizona’s forward corps also got upgraded through the signings of middle-six forwards Jason Zucker and Alex Kerfoot.
But the biggest offseason news for the Coyotes was that prized prospect Logan Cooley committed to the team by foregoing his sophomore year at the University of Minnesota to join Arizona for the upcoming NHL season.
Cooley was sensational in the college ranks in ’22-23 and is a legitimate threat to upset Connor Bedard in the race for the Calder Trophy this spring.
Cooley should slot in quite nicely as Arizona’s No. 2 center and round out a top-six that features some serious potential with Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Barrett Hayton, Dylan Guenther, and Matias Maccelli.
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Arizona’s goaltending tandem also has upside as both Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram are coming off strong seasons in 2022-23 despite playing behind one of the league’s worst defenses.
I’m not here to make an argument that the Coyotes are going to be a contender this season — there are still plenty of flaws on this roster and there are plenty of ways this could go sideways — but rather I want to make a case that this team has a higher ceiling than people (and the betting market) realizes.
And a big part of that ceiling is that the Coyotes will have the luxury of playing in the Central Division, where things are wide open behind Stanley Cup contenders Colorado and Dallas.
The Minnesota Wild are projected to slot into the third playoff spot in the Central behind the Avs and Stars, but they’re in a pickle with the salary cap and don’t have much center depth.
The Winnipeg Jets are trying to transition to a new core and could trade Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck in the near future. St. Louis is coming off a disastrous season. Nashville and Chicago are both focused on the future.
For the first time in a long time, the door is open for Arizona to make some noise in the division.
And while the price on the Coyotes to make the playoffs (+750, DraftKings) may seem like the most logical bet to make if you’re bullish on the Coyotes like I am, there’s a correlated wager that is my favorite NHL future on the board right now:
Andre Tourigny to win the Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) at 100/1 (FanDuel).
Tourigny has already started to build a strong reputation among the media for the job he’s done with the Coyotes over the past two seasons and if he’s able to guide this team to — or close to — a playoff spot, he’ll be among the favorites to win the Jack Adams.