It’s been a rough go for the Arizona Coyotes since they relocated from Winnipeg in 1996.
In 23 seasons, the Coyotes have made the playoffs just 10 times and haven’t been back to the dance in six consecutive campaigns. It wasn’t until a miracle run in 2012 that they managed to win their first postseason series, ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the conference finals.
Arizona has essentially been the bottom dwellers of the league over the years and a pretty mind-blowing fact connected to the NHL draft might explain why. According to Luke Lapinski of The Rundown, The ‘Yotes are just one of eight NHL teams that hasn’t drafted in the top two since they relocated in ’96. One of those eight teams includes the Vegas Golden Knights, who drafted fourth in their inaugural season.
It’s a pretty remarkable stat when you consider how many times Arizona has finished at the bottom of the league standings.
The team has some promising young talent in Clayotn Keller and Alex Galchenyuk but the importance of a top-two pick shouldn’t be understated. Are Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine from the 2016 Draft not enough proof of that? Or how about Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin from ’04? These guys have played massive roles in turning around their respective franchises.
Regardless, the Golden Knights also demonstrated (though they’re a rare case) that not every team needs a top-two pick to make a run at the Stanley Cup Finals. Arizona currently sits 26th in the league with a 16-18-2 record so this could end up being the year they finally get one if they continue to struggle. They’re 3-7-0 in their last 10.
(H/T Luke Lapinski)
