2015 Arizona Coyotes Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks

by Trevor Whenham - 9/24/2015

There are 14 teams in the Western Conference. Thirtenn of them can make a fairly legitimate case that they are playoff contenders. The 14th is the Coyotes. It must be rough to be an Arizona player or one of the 12 fans that regularly attends the games. Of course, if you are a Coyotes player you are likely just thankful to be playing in the league at all - most of these guys aren't good enough to be the vast majority of other rosters in the league.

This is a team that is going to play like they are in the midst of a serious rebuild. There are some very good young talents in the system and another elite one sure to come from the draft next spring. It's just going to take a while for things to turn around. The fact is that this just isn't a good hockey team right now. At all. Not even a little bit. Ugly.

Arizona Coyotes Offseason Moves

They traded away a lot of players and lost more to free agency. They signed 12 free agents and overpaid a few mostly to make sure they stay over the salary cap floor. One transaction tells you all you need to know about the offseason they had. They traded Sam Gagner to the Flyers. They got marginal defender Nicklas Grossmann in return. The highlight of the deal, though, was getting Chris Pronger. Pronger was one of the great defensemen of all time. He also hasn't played since December of 2011 and is 40 years old. He never officially retired and works for the NHL now. Sadly, Pronger is no worse than the second best defenseman on the team right now. The best part is that three days after the Coyotes acquired him he was inducted in the NHL Hall of Fame. He's the first Coyote to enter the Hall, though he likely won't wear an Arizona jersey to his induction ceremony.

When Chris Pronger is by far the highlight of your offseason, I don't need to say any more about your offseason.

Arizona Coyotes NHL Outlook

There is good news here. Oliver Ekman-Larsson led the league in goals by defensemen last year, and at 24 he's only going to get better. He will make it easier for fans to deal with the loss of Keith Yandle. There is even a problem here, though - they don't really have someone worthy of playing with him. They traded away Zbynek Michalek at the trade deadline last year but then brought him back as a free agent, and he will likely play with Ekman-Larsson again as he did at full strength last year. Michalek just isn't good enough, though, and isn't getting any faster as he gets older. Far from ideal. It's also a concern that unlike the forward ranks which are full of blue-chip prospects, they are really short of top-flight youngsters on the back end. Outside of Ekman-Larsson, this is not a good defense.

Rookie forwards will play a major role in this team. Top pick Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, who they got in the Yandle trade to the Rangers, will likely make the team this year. They were brilliant together on a line at the World Junior Championships for Canada and should both be ready to contribute here. This year's pick, Dylan Strome, who has the distinction of being the first mortal selected after McDavid and Eichel were gone, could make the team, too. He's probably not ready physically and wouldn't make most teams, but he's too good offensively for junior, and it's not like the team has much to lose. The three of them are the future of this team. The problem is that they could potentially be the three best offensive threats on this team already - with apologies to the ancient Shane Doan, who deserves better than to finish his career on a team this bad. There is not a proven scorer and not even a good breakout candidate. Unless the youngsters can really explode, this team is going to struggle to score. Really struggle.

Goaltending could be a strength or a liability - such is the joy of relying on Mike Smith. He can be excellent - as he was at the World Championships for Canada in the spring. Or he can be lousy - as he was for much of the year for Arizona last year. Goaltending is the strength of this team, but that's not saying much.

Arizona Coyotes Schedule

Every game they play is against a team better than them. Half of them are on the road. Not a lot to get excited about regarding this schedule. Fans need to remember that every loss is a win - it improves the chances of winning the draft lottery and getting the right to pick Auston Matthews. Not only is he a special talent, but he's also from Scottsdale, so he would be a marketing dream - if the team stays in Arizona.

Arizona Coyotes NHL Futures Odds (from Bovada)

It's bleak. At +25000 they are by far the longest shot on the board to win the Stanley Cup. At +25000000000 they still wouldn't be worth a bet. They are +6600 to win the Western Conference - twice the price of any other team. They are +3500 to win the Pacific Division. No other team is worse than +700.

2015-16 Arizona Coyotes Predictions

Terrible team looking towards the future and dreaming of a day when Matthews, Domi and Duclair are the best line in the league. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't once make sense to bet on them all year.

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