Salary-cap deep dive: Arizona Coyotes

Arizona’s defense is loaded with several high-priced veteran blueliners and almost all of the Coyotes' players with contracts come up next season, including Goligoski, Hjalmarsson and Demers. Goligoski is 35, but is still playing major minutes for Arizona and could be a candidate to return at a slightly lesser deal. Hjalmarsson is 33, but has seen his game break down a bit as he has dealt with numerous injuries the last couple of years, including a fractured fibula that cost him 43 games last season. Demers, 32, also averaged more than 20 minutes of ATOI per game. The Coyotes might keep one or two of those players but likely will not keep all three.

The Coyotes will also want to evaluate the play of Raanta, who has showed flashes of dominance but also has dealt with injuries and inconsistent play at times as well. Raanta did play well last season, posting a .921 save percentage in 33 games and gives Arizona several options in the net. Raanta could easily be re-signed to new deal or could be a trade candidate as well.

The Coyotes will also finally be free of Hossa’s $5.28 million contract they took on years ago.

Two Years Remaining

F Phil Kessel ($6.8 million, UFA)
G Darcy Kuemper ($4.5 million, UFA)
F Tyler Pitlick ($1.75 million, UFA)
F Lawson Crouse ($1.53 million, RFA)
F Johan Larsson ($1.4 million, UFA)
F Christian Fischer ($1 million, RFA)

The Coyotes brought in Kessel to bring in the firepower that they needed as goal scoring remains one of their biggest weak points. Unfortunately, Kessel didn’t turn out to be the big acquisition that Arizona was hoping for in this first season with the Coyotes. After an 28-goal, 82-point season in 2018-19, the 33-year-old saw quite a decline in his play with just 14 goals and 38 points in 70 games. That’s way below what the Coyotes were seeking, and Arizona has to hope that Kessel can return to form this season in hopes of increasing his value if the Coyotes move him at the trade deadline or next offseason when he has just one year left on his deal.

Kuemper has become the Coyotes’ top asset as the 30-year-old has been nothing short of dominant over the past two years and remains on a manageable contract. His name came up in trade speculation this offseason, but with so many free-agent goalies available, Arizona didn’t get the offers it was seeking. That could change down the road. Yet at the same time, Kuemper might be worth keeping around down the road.

Three Years Remaining

None

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Four Or More Years Remaining

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($8.25 million through 2026-27)
F Clayton Keller ($7.15 million through 2027-28)
F Nick Schmaltz ($5.85 million through 2025-26)
D Jakob Chychrun ($4.6 million through 2024-25)
F Christian Dvorak ($4.45 million through 2024-25)

Currently, the Coyotes have only five players locked in two years from now, with Ekman-Larsson leading the way. Unfortunately, the impressive defenseman saw his play take a step back last season and saw his name running through the rumor mill all offseason and likely will be talked about again at the trade deadline, despite his no-movement clause and his willingness to go to only either Vancouver of Boston.

One thing the Coyotes did do was invest in their youth, which they did with Keller and Chychrun. Both players have shown plenty of promise, but neither has established himself as an elite player as of yet. However, Arizona is hoping that by signing them long-term, the contracts will look like solid, affordable deals down the road. Keller has not taken that step yet after a dominant rookie season during which he scored 23 goals and 65 points in 2017-18. Those numbers dropped the following year (14 goals, 47 points). Keller’s numbers jumped a bit last season in 12 fewer games (17 goals, 44 points), but Arizona continues to wait on him to take that next step. Chychrun has dealt with minor injuries throughout his pro career, but posted a 12-goal campaign last season, suggested he was ready to assume a bigger role on Arizona's offense.

Schmaltz was brought in for Dylan Strome a couple of years ago, and despite a season-ending injury in 2018-19, he looked like a solid second-line center, who posted 45 points last season. However, the Arizona hopes that he can take that next step and put up even more down the road, including upping his goal-scoring numbers which were only at 11 last season. Dvorak, on the other hand, scored 18 goals last season and slowly has improved every season with the Coyotes and is pushing Schmaltz for the second-line center duties.

Buyouts

F Michael Grabner ($833,000 in 2020-21 and $1.26 million in 2021-22)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Best Value: Kuemper
Worst Value: Ekman-Larsson

Looking Ahead

In many ways, the Coyotes still feel like a young team about to take that next step. However, when you look at the roster, they added quite a few veterans over the last few years, and many of those contracts are close to expiring. Only five players are locked up beyond the next two years, but the one missing key to Arizona is a lack of superstar talent. Arizona was obviously hoping that Taylor Hall might fill that void, but that didn’t happen, but is Clayton Keller the next superstar? The other issue is that while this team is young, Arizona has not accumulated many draft picks (the Coyotes already don’t have their 2021 first-rounder after the league took it away for violating the league’s combine testing policy), having traded many of them away, and there isn’t a major group of kids ready to step in, which could really change the look of the Coyotes down the road too.