Projecting the Coyotes’ lines for 2018-19
The Coyotes have made significant changes to their group of forwards. How will their activity in the trade market and in free agency this summer alter their lineup?
Here, we’ll take a look at how the club’s current forwards could shake out into a potential lineup. Here are some line projections as we sit about two months from training camp.
1st line: Richard Panik, LW; Derek Stepan, C; Clayton Keller, RW
It sounds as though coach Rick Tocchet will at least give a look to keeping together the Panik-Stepan-Keller line at the start of next season.
After being traded to the Coyotes in January, Panik experienced initial struggles in trying to jell with his new lineup. But when moved to the top line alongside Stepan and Keller, Panik flourished with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the final 12 games of the season.
Regardless of where Panik ends up, it’s a good bet that Stepan and Keller will be matched again this season. Keller led the team in scoring with 23 goals and was tied with Stepan for the team lead in assists with 42 last season.
As a 19-year-old, Keller set Coyotes single-season rookie records for goals (23), assists (42), points (65), games played (82), multi-point games (14), longest point streak (10 games), and most points in a calendar month (19 in March).
Stepan, acquired in a draft-day deal in 2017, stepped into a leadership role in his first season in Arizona and finished second on the team in scoring.
When thinking of other players who could play on the top line alongside Stepan and Keller, the next likely candidate would be Brendan Perlini, who scored 17 goals but was at times inconsistent from game to game as a 21-year-old last season.
2nd line: Brendan Perlini, LW; Alex Galchenyuk, C; Vinnie Hinostroza, RW
The Coyotes made three major changes to their lineup for next season and two of them could find themselves on the team’s second line.
The question with Galchenyuk is whether he plays center or the wing, but it sounds like the Coyotes are going to give him every opportunity to earn a spot down the middle.
Galchenyuk, 24, played wing last season with the Montreal Canadiens and totaled 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists), but he enjoyed a 30-goal season in 2015-16 as a center.
“He’s had success playing the center position,” Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka said after completing the trade for Galchenyuk. “I don’t think we’d make this trade if we didn’t think he had the ability to play center.”
Hinostroza was acquired by the Coyotes on Thursday, and it sounds as though he will get a chance to claim a right-wing spot on one of the Coyotes’ two top lines. He would likely fall behind Keller on the depth chart, so a secondline spot seems to be his best fit.
3rd line: Michael Grabner, LW; Christian Dvorak, C; Dylan Strome, RW
This is where things could get a little funky.
Even after moving Marcus Kruger in the aforementioned Hinostroza deal, the Coyotes will still have to displace at least one of their centers on the wing. Right now, that looks like Strome.
“From experience of playing and coaching, I don’t think you can have too many centermen on your roster,” Tocchet said of the surplus. “Obviously you can’t have 12 centermen, but I think having that kind of center depth is huge. This gives us a lot of flexibility.
“You might have to play the wing, but if a guy can play center or the wing, I just think it’s a positive for your team. We’ll find spots for people, but it’s going to create some competition, too.”
This is also where Grabner, the third of the team’s major lineup changes, alters the complexion of the Coyotes’ forward core.
Having Grabner, who scored 27 goals last season, play on the third line gives the club depth that it has not had in some time.
4th line: Lawson Crouse, LW; Brad Richardson, C; Christian Fischer, RW
With Kruger moved and Richardson re-signed, Tocchet is looking forward to having his fourth-line center back for next season.
“He did a really good job in a leadership role, especially in the second half,” Tocchet said of Richardson. “In the second half, I thought he was really one of the leaders out there. He shut down a lot of good players on the other side, but he also did a nice job of making some of the young guys accountable.”
The addition is Crouse, who spent the majority of the season with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate in Tucson last season.
Crouse played near a full season in the NHL in 2016-17 and will likely be given every opportunity to win a fourthline spot out of training camp. He would provide a unique mix of physicality and scoring ability.
“Whether it’s injuries or whatever the reason,” Tocchet said, “when you can’t put solid centermen out there, it’s a huge advantage for the teams that don’t have to worry about that. When you look at our centers, Dvorak or Richardson or Stepan — and I haven’t seen Galchenyuk enough to see — those types of guys can go in their own end and take a draw.
“You don’t feel comfortable as a coach when you don’t have enough centermen. It’s such a crucial part of the game.”