{"id":46476,"date":"2019-05-04T11:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T15:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=46476"},"modified":"2019-05-05T10:43:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T14:43:30","slug":"ryan-dzingel-among-others-would-help-arizona-coyotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/05\/04\/ryan-dzingel-among-others-would-help-arizona-coyotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Dzingel Among Others Would Help Arizona Coyotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Coyotes <\/a>are looking for some scoring punch. The lack of goals has caused them to miss the playoffs for seven straight seasons. They just missed the post-season by four points and adding a player like Ryan Dzingel<\/strong><\/a> could help them to get over the hump.<\/p>\n

Ryan Dzingel Would Boost Coyotes Offence<\/h1>\n

The 27-year-old centre can play all forward positions. He has had 68 career goals, 72 assists in 268 NHL games in his four-year career. This past season which he split up with the Ottawa Senators <\/a>and Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> he collected 26 goals, and 30 assists in 78 games.<\/p>\n

The statistic, which has to impress Coyotes general manager John Chayka,<\/strong> is his career 15 percent shooting accuracy. He averaged about 1.65 shots per game with about 15 minutes of average ice time a game. If the Coyotes could get him the puck a little more often and add a few minutes of ice time to his total, he could produce some good results.<\/p>\n

His versatility being able to fill both wing positions plus the centre-ice slot helps immensely. Especially when you consider how many injuries the team withstood this past season.<\/p>\n

Foreseeing a top line of Clayton Keller<\/strong><\/a>, Nick Schmaltz<\/strong><\/a> and Ryan Dzingel can be a fairly formidable offensive weapon for the team. This is especially true since no Coyote player even attained the 20-goal mark this past season. That was their downfall to not making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

With Schmaltz and Keller working their incredible chemistry, adding Dzingel into the mix can only augment all three players\u2019 offensive skills.<\/p>\n

Other Players Can Also Help Via Free Agency or Trades<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s that time of year again where the name Phil Kessel<\/strong> <\/a>comes up in the trade rumors. Of course, since Rick Tocchet<\/strong><\/a> has been at the Arizona helm there has been chatter that Tocchet is the only coach who can Kessel-whisper him into being a controlled contributor. With all that being said, there is talk that the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> are thinking of moving some key players after two straight failed playoff performances recently.<\/p>\n

No doubt that Kessel could pump some instant scoring for the meager Arizona club. Yet, he probably isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n

So could such names as Artemi Panarin<\/strong><\/a> and Jeff Skinner<\/strong>.<\/a> Unfortunately, they will demand way more than what Chayka will have in his budget. Panarin has made it known he desires a coastal location near water. The only water near the Phoenix area is Lake Pleasant, which probably is not what he has in mind. Unless a new owner comes forward to buy the team or become the majority owner, the Coyotes can forget about getting Panarin or Skinner.<\/p>\n

Other possibilities<\/h2>\n

Another possibility may be if the Coyotes look to the New York Islanders<\/a> who will have three scorers on the free agent market. Brock Nelson<\/strong><\/a> (25 goals, 53 points), Anders Lee<\/strong> <\/a>(28 goals, 51 points), and Jordan Eberle<\/strong><\/a> ( 19 goals, 37 points) are all possibilities. It\u2019s unlikely that all three will be moving to free agency as the Islanders will seek some kind of return. Any of those options are a significant improvement to the Coyotes scoring dilemma.<\/p>\n

Then, Chayka can always use his cap space excess he will receive from the Dave Bolland<\/strong> <\/a>contract ($5.5 million) cap hit being gone, as well as Mike Smith<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s retained $1.417 million to \u201chelp\u201d a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> out of their salary cap issues. Can the crafty Chayka steal a young Leafs forward from them by taking over Patrick Marleau<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s final year of his $6.25 million contract? It would ONLY cost Chayka the base salary of $1.25 million with a signing bonus of $3 million. What a deal!<\/p>\n

The Coyotes could look into acquiring Andreas Johnsson<\/strong><\/a> (20 goals, 43 points) or Kasperi Kapanen<\/strong><\/a> (20 goals, 44 points) or hold on to your hockey helmets\u2026 how about William Nylander<\/strong><\/a>? There is no way the Leafs are going to sign Mitch Marner<\/strong><\/a> for the huge Auston Matthews<\/strong><\/a>-like contract when they are already near or over the cap limit. Something\u2019s got to give.<\/p>\n

If The Coyotes Can Add Scoring They Can Make the Playoffs<\/h2>\n

Many factors will contribute to the results of next season. Will Keller break out and have a great last year of his entry-level contract? Will young players like Christian Fischer<\/strong><\/a>, Lawson Crouse<\/a><\/strong>, and Jakob Chychrun<\/strong><\/a> start to contribute at expected levels? Can the great goaltending exhibited by Darcy Kuemper<\/strong> <\/a>continue and will Antti Raanta<\/strong><\/a> be able to stay healthy?<\/p>\n

And finally, will the defense which excelled last season be able to perform at the same or better levels?<\/p>\n

The offense is the only ingredient missing for this team to be a playoff team. Let\u2019s see what Chayka\u2019s got. It could be his make or break season as the team\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>