Up until the past seven games, the Coyotes had exceeded most external expectations. They were as close to a playoff spot as they were to the NHL basement. Their middle core was showing further signs of progress. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka was among the league leaders in goals saved above expected. They were beating elite teams and they were winning with shocking regularity at Mullett Arena.  The chances of landing Connor Bedard at the 2023 NHL Draft — or even Adam Fantilli or Leo Carlsson — seemed remote. When the Coyotes hit the midpoint of the 2022-23 season in their 41st game, a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators in Tempe on Thursday, the view was more of an expected one.…

Sometimes, Philly fans throw snowballs at Santa.  Sometimes, they throw batteries at baseball players.  Sometimes, they throw wristbands at hockey players.  Sometimes, they just throw the hockey players away instead. As Shayne Gostisbehere prepares to play his 500th career NHL game against the team that drafted him in the third round in 2012 — in the city where he made his mark as the Calder Trophy runner-up to Artemi Panarin in 2016 — this much is clear: Whatever plans the Philadelphia Flyers had to replace his cap space with younger players and remain in playoff contention have failed in the short term. Philadelphia missed the playoffs last season, finishing just four points ahead of the rebuilding Coyotes. As the two teams…

I have long believed that the entire period between Christmas Eve Day and New Year’s Day should be a national holiday. Business leaders probably don’t agree. The US is so hyper focused on productivity and work ethic that it fails to consider the benefits that more balance might be create. An entire week off probably sounds like blasphemy. Some smaller...

Coyotes fans have come to expect alternate ledes from me in these mailbags. Today’s topic is covers of songs that equaled or surpassed the original. What led me down this path? The discovery that perhaps my favorite Amy Winehouse song is a cover, not an original. More on that in a second. Anybody who knows anything about music knows that...

The Colorado Avalanche, the Edmonton Oilers, the Toronto Maple Leafs and… the Arizona Coyotes. The first three teams are logical choices when you think of elite power-play units in the NHL. The last one? Not so much, yet 11 games into the season, that is exactly where the rebuilding Coyotes find themselves, ranked fifth in the NHL with 11 power-play...

PITTSBURGH — We’ve told you about TD Garden’s inhospitably, but PPG Paints Arena has been the Coyotes’ true house of horrors. In 10 previous games at Pittsburgh’s 12-year-old arena, the Coyotes were 1-9 and had been outscored 41-11, so when the schedule makers added insult to injury this season by launching the Coyotes’ stretch of 20 road games in their...

Stanley Cup winning teams look for a way to sustain the previous season’s fire. Playoff teams look for a way to get over the hump in their quest for a championship. Non-playoff teams hope to take the next step in their evolution toward contention. The Coyotes goals for the 2022-23 season are a bit more esoteric. As a team, they’ll...

Shayne Gostisbehere didn’t need more motivation for the 2021-22 season than the Philadelphia Flyers provided.  “I definitely had a little chip on my shoulder,” the Coyotes defenseman said. “When you get traded for nothing and some picks are tagged along with it, that definitely crushes your soul a little bit.” That’s what happened when the Flyers sent Gostisbehere, a 2022...

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun made it clear that he wants to win now and is not interested in a lengthy rebuild, but GM Bill Armstrong will not trade him without getting what he deems fair value.