The Arizona Coyotes are calling their new plan a reset instead of a rebuild because they don't want anyone to think losing is expected now or in the near future.
"I would love to see (coach) Dave Tippett's reaction if someone said, 'You focus on attempting to lose,'" Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc told USA TODAY Sports. "You would watch his head explode."
Players will be moved before the March 2 trade deadline, LeBlanc said, and those deals will be done to improve the team as quickly as possible, not to improve its draft status in what is considered a strong draft year.
"I don't think we need to go from the chassis up," LeBlanc said. "We have those really good solid pieces in the young talent we have on the team. … A complete rebuild is when you knock it down and begin again, and we don't need to do that. We just need to layer in some other pieces that fit better."
The Coyotes, 20-27-7 entering Tuesday, are on their way to their first losing season since 2008-09, though they had gone 4-2-2 since the All-Star break.
"We think this team is better than what our record is," LeBlanc said. "But we are on our way to our third consecutive year of missing the playoffs, and that is simply not good enough."
No one is saying exactly who will be dealt, but likely players are center Antoine Vermette, defenseman Zbynek Michalek and wingers Martin Erat and David Moss, all of whom will be unrestricted free agents next summer.
The biggest name under consideration is Keith Yandle, who led Coyotes scorers and ranked fifth among all NHL defensemen with 39 points in 54 games.
If the Coyotes trade Yandle, they will want a significant return, and it might be in their best interest to wait until the summer when interested teams will be less constrained by the salary cap.
The Coyotes had the NHL's fourth-worst record, and scouts say there are at least eight potential difference-makers in this draft. Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are considered generational franchise players, and defenseman Noah Hanifin projects to be a top-pairing defenseman. Center Dylan Strome.
The tricky aspect for the Coyotes is they are embracing the reset at the same time they are working to establish themselves as a permanent fixture in the desert.
LeBlanc said the Coyotes were being mindful of the fans while changing the team on the fly.
"I'm a New York Jets season ticketholder, and I know what it is like to go through this on an annual basis," LeBlanc said. "But I look at this team in Arizona, and I see some good pieces here. And (general manager) Don Maloney has a proven record of success in trying times."
The team's core includes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, forward Mikkel Boedker and respected captain Shane Doan.
But fans also appreciate that the Coyotes have key younger players, LeBlanc said. The prospect list includes Max Domi, Henrik Samuelsson and Ryan MacInnis, all sons of former NHL players.
"We are not selling out a building every night, but we have a pretty good following here. We are averaging 14,000 per game," LeBlanc said. "We have a good solid corps of fans, and that's a corps that has been to hell and back."
The Coyotes fans lived for four years not knowing if the team would be moved. LeBlanc admires how many stuck with the Coyotes when loving them was not easy.
"I was a Montreal Expos fan growing up, and when they were in their final years I completely lost interest," LeBlanc said. "People (in Arizona) tell me that they are happy to have a team to cheer for and that they have stable ownership. That's even better. I think they realize we have some players here and we have a coach, Dave Tippett, who is a top-five coach in the NHL."
Majority interest in the Coyotes was recently sold to Andrew Barroway, but LeBlanc said one reason was Barroway agreed to give LeBlanc's group a say in the process. He said the decision to change the roster was a group decision.
In 2013-14, the Coyotes' revenue increased "leaps and bounds," according to LeBlanc, over the previous season, and this season's revenue has continued to grow.
He expects season-ticket renewals to be fine, he said, because fans realize fixing this team will be a short-term project.
"When I walk the concourse, fans say, 'Will it be better next year?' and I can honestly tell them yes," LeBlanc said. "Realistically, we think we will put together what we thought we had this season, which is a playoff-caliber team."
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