{"id":132053,"date":"2022-09-10T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T13:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=132053"},"modified":"2022-09-09T15:51:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T19:51:10","slug":"puck-drop-preview-2022-23-arizona-coyotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/09\/10\/puck-drop-preview-2022-23-arizona-coyotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Puck Drop Preview: 2022-23 Arizona Coyotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Word on Hockey\u2019s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2022-23 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team\u2019s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We\u2019ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team over the course of the campaign. Today, we\u2019re previewing the 2022-23\u00a0Arizona Coyotes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

2022-23 Arizona Coyotes<\/h2>\n

2021-22 Season<\/h3>\n

This past season was one to forget if you are the Arizona Coyotes. The team was a basement dweller in every aspect<\/a>. Arizona went on to finish dead last in the Central Division and in the Western Conference. Finishing the season with 57 points, the Desert Dogs earned the third overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The basement-dwelling finish led to being at the bottom in many categories. At the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, the Yotes finished 32nd in goals per game (2.51), 30th in goals against per game (3.77), finished 30th on the power play, and 28th on the penalty kill. To make matters worse, the team finished dead last in goals against (221), and the worst possession team at even strength with a CF% of 44.23%. To provide a good visual, this displays the performance of the Coyotes all year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bright Spots<\/h4>\n

Despite finishing in the basement and being as bad as they were, there were a few bright spots. The Yotes had four players finish with 50+ points: Clayton Keller<\/a> (63), Nick Schmaltz<\/a> (59), Phil Kessel<\/a> (52), and Shayne Gostisbehere<\/a> (51). The emergence of Gostisbehere was a big bright spot. Arizona\u2019s veteran blueliner had his best statistical season since his 65-point outburst in 2017-18 with the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the team had point producers, they were very bad. Pain will continue to set in but there will be light at the end of the tunnel. <\/span><\/p>\n

2022 Off-Season<\/h3>\n

The biggest story of the off-season is not a player that is gone or coming in, but where they are playing. Arizona will be playing in the state sharing a 5,000-seat arena with the Arizona State Sun Devils. Their temporary home is named The Mullett Arena. Imagine having Mullet Night at the Coyotes game and they hand out Jagr-like mullet wigs? Talk about an experience. Now these young kids coming through can get the college experience and play professional hockey at the same time. For shocking news, here is what the attendance looks like so far:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The @ArizonaCoyotes<\/a> claim that their season ticket revenue has grown 50% since leaving a 17,000-seat NHL arena for a 5,000-seat one on a college campus. \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0fhttps:\/\/t.co\/0orN04e6kz<\/a><\/p>\n

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 8, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n