Center Derek Stepan is staying focused amid team’s 0-7-1 start.
In the aftermath of the trade that separated Coyotes center Derek Stepan from the only NHL team for which he he’d played, he checked when he’d return to New York to face the Rangers.
And he discovered a reunion awaited him during the 10th game of the season.
“I know that I’m going to be emotional with it,” Stepan said. “It’s going to be tough to go into the building and go into a different locker room. But such is life. You just gotta embrace it and have some fun with it, and that’s kind of my game plan in my head right now. We’ll see if I can go through with it on Thursday.”
Stepan’s return to Madison Square Garden after seven seasons with the Rangers headlines the Coyotes’ fivegame, East Coast road swing, which begins Tuesday vs. the Islanders. But the trip could hold even more significance.
Arizona (0-7-1) is still seeking its first win of the season and its streak could snowball toward the 15-game slide by the 1943-44 Rangers that ranks as the longest winless streak to open a season in NHL history.
And although this adversity is unlike the success Stepan enjoyed in New York with a perennial playoff contender, it hasn’t changed Stepan’s approach to being the in-game catalyst and office role model the Coyotes coveted when they acquired him.
“I’m still trying to go about business and try to be a leader in the sense that I want to just kind of show guys, ‘Hey, these tough stretches happen. We just gotta keep working. We’ll come out of (it) better for it,’” Stepan said. “I’m just trying to do that, trying to stay with what I would do in New York and just keep things positive at the same time teaching and when there’s a moment to step up and be a leader, do that.”
Despite the team’s struggles, Stepan is settling in as the Coyotes’ newest No. 1 center after a June trade with the Rangers sent him and goalie Antti Raanta to Arizona in exchange for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and the 2017 No. 7 draft pick.
His line with Max Domi and rookie Clayton Keller has scored or set up 11 of Arizona’s 18 goals – an impressive 61 percent – with Stepan tied for second in goals (two) and third in points (six).
“I think we’ve built good chemistry,” Stepan said. “My game is still coming. I think I can be even better than I have. I think there’s moments where me and my linemates are maybe not as sharp because we haven’t played together long enough. But we’ve built some great chemistry, and the two guys that I’m playing with are super skilled. So my job is just to kind of get them in spots to get an opportunity with the puck on their sticks.”
Anchoring a bonafide top line is key among Stepan’s roles, and the trio’s contributions help the Coyotes’ competitiveness as the team pursues its first win.
But Stepan’s leadership seems to become even more valuable amid tough times, especially since the 27-year-old can offer up insight from a winning history to those around him.
“Sometimes players get sick of hearing a coach’s voice,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “Sometimes when it comes from a player, it helps and I think he does a nice job of that.”