The Arizona Coyotes are ready for the next step in their rebuild after two seasons of pain.
They've built a foundation of rising stars with a mix of veterans they hope will help make a push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's been a tough two years in the desert in terms of watching our team, the rebuild in place and taking bad contracts, and now it's getting to the good stuff," general manager Bill Armstrong told NHL.com. "Listen, we're going to have some challenges. We're going have some moments we're not very good, but we've got an ability now to go to into the ring from the first day of training camp and have a good team and push to see how good we can become. That means trying to get to the [2024 NHL Trade Deadline] and being in the hunt, and that's not an easy task for us as an organization."
The Coyotes, who have qualified for the playoffs once in the past 11 seasons (2020), traded for 24-year-old defenseman Sean Durzi and signed free agent forwards Jason Zucker, 31, Alex Kerfoot, 28, and Nick Bjugstad, 31, and defenseman Troy Stecher, 29 -- the latter two re-signing with Arizona after being traded away last season. The core includes 22-year-old forward Matias Maccelli and 25-year-old forward Clayton Keller, who had 86 points (37 goals, 49 assists) last season to tie Keith Tkachuk (1996-97) for the most in a season for the Coyotes since the franchise moved to Arizona from Winnipeg for 1996-97.
"We know we're not a Cup contender, but we want to be relevant," said Andre Tourigny, who is entering his third season as Coyotes coach following a seventh-place finish in the Central Division last season and an eighth-place finish in 2021-22.
The hope is Zucker helps get them there. He's a six-time 20-goal scorer whose 27 goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season were his most since his NHL career-high 33 with the Minnesota Wild in 2017-18.
"Even though it's a one-year deal, I'm looking at that team as a long-term play," Zucker said. "I'm hoping that I can be back and obviously that's without ever even being there. Ultimately, it's the place that I see myself wanting to be long term, but I've got to earn that first."
The Coyotes players will get a good chance to bond during a busy preseason, when they'll play two games against the Los Angeles Kings in Melbourne, Australia, as part of the 2023 NHL Global Series on Sept. 22 and 23.
Following the Global Series, they'll play in Las Vegas; Palm Springs, California; Anaheim; and Tucson, Arizona, then fly east to open the regular season against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 13, play a back-to-back set at the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, and visit the St. Louis Blues.
The home opener is against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 21. This comes one season after opening with six straight road games, having a stretch of 14 in a row away from Arizona in November and December, and finishing 7-25-9 on the road, worst in the NHL.
"We are fortunate to go to Australia and have great team bonding right from the get-go," Tourigny said. "When we come back, we'll rely on sports science and make sure we do the proper thing mentally and we have the proper rest for our bodies so we can be ready for the start of the season."
While the Coyotes are trying to find a permanent place to play in the Arizona, their home again this season will be the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. Tourigny said the coaches and players can't worry about outside noise about their future, but instead must focus on the job at hand on the ice.
"The noise is the enemy of your focus, the enemy of the process," Tourigny said. "It takes your mind and your focus away from what you have to do to achieve the goal you want. All that noise cannot help you. It's important to focus on what you can control. We did a good job the last two years of not focusing on distractions. We will need that even more now because we have high expectations for ourselves."
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