Welcome to the AZ Coyotes Insider newsletter. My plan is to publish stories four to six times per week. By subscribing, you’ll be supporting independent, accountable journalism. Subscribe now so you won’t miss a story. During a Zoom call with reporters in June to announce the hiring of president/CEO Xavier Gutierrez, Coyotes majority owner Alex Meruelo was asked about the impending sanctions against the team for
I will say this now puts John Chayka's departure in the appropriate context. The guy set the franchise up for a huge sanction, lied about his job opportunity with a competing franchise, and then walked right after telling the new owner he'd stay and signing a lengthy contract extension. I hope the Coyotes win their grievance and Chayka gets banned from the Devils organization. Phooey. I'm getting more angry about this as time passes.
Off the wall thought, but I wonder if Bettman hit the team with losing draft choices instead of fines due to the financial condition of the team? Merulo's hard core cost cutting over the last few months at the expense of team makes one wonder.
I don’t envy the marketing team for the next 3+ years. I would have considered myself a die-hard fan from 2012-18, but I’ve gone from watching 75ish games a year on TV or in-person to maybe 25. I find it hard to get emotionally invested into a team I don’t really believe in. Not that Don Maloney did an amazing job or that I was expecting a Stanley Cup, but seeing them falter after 6 years of “rebuilding” has really shaken my resolve.
Ultimately the reason I kept watching during the pre-Chayka years was having Doan on the team. When he left, I felt like I didn’t really have much of a connection to the team anymore. It comes down to not having a beloved player compelling me to watch Coyotes hockey when they are losing more games than they are winning.
I will never use the name John Chayka again. He will forevermore be 'The Weasel'. That aside, this isn't SMU receiving the death sentence. I think an experienced GM like Shero is more likely to navigate this mess than a 1st time GM. I hate it, but what's done is done. So, new GM, what's the plan?
Kuemper is the backbone of the current team, but he would by far get the most assets in return for a rebuild. He is 30, and will be on the tail end of his career by the time a rebuild is done. Raanta is very good when healthy, Hill is capable backup and Prosvetov is a stud for the future. Goalie depth is what Chayka excelled at for this team. They should take advantage of it. Raanta’s value may be Low from injuries and only 1 year remaining on contract. The team needs assets and lots of them. This is tough but manageable if the right (but potentially difficult) trades are made. Hitting some draft picks out of the park needs to happen too.
Coyotes fans just have to pretend they are like fans of teams that have recently won a Cup or two. Aging team, no draft picks and players who can’t play up to their contracts any longer. Minus the Cup(s). That’s the pretend part.
"...I ultimately conclude that the record does not establish — to a standard with which I am comfortable — that those individuals engaged in intentional wrongdoing, as opposed to grossly negligent behavior.”
That's really interesting wording. So...they did whatever they did accidentally, without knowing it was wrong? Isn't that an issue with whatever the rules/guidance say? Or does it mean something else, like, if I ram my car into a building full conscious of what I was doing because I thought they cheated me out of something, that is intentional, but if I do the same thing because I am rip-roaring drunk, it is grossly negligent?
I wish the league were more clear about both what the Coyotes did and what their ruling means.
This definitely puts salt on the wounds of their ugly playoff exit. It's not like their prospect pool is deep with promising talent. Here is hoping Jenik is a good as he looks. Although he's probably still a couple of years away. I know Hayton's time in the NHL has been brief im not sold on him being a top 5 pick.
When it comes to trading, I think they should do all they can to trade OEL. A couple of seasons ago he was a amazing. He has seemed like a different player with Tochett. If they can't resign Hall, the player I think they should target is Mike Hoffman.
That punishment is significant. First round draft picks are gold and are the highest probability a team has to score a superior talent. My guess is that the violation is more than we can tell at this point.
It also sounds like the league is making an example out of the coyotes here.
They won’t have any problem finding a GM. If the GM fails they were behind the eight ball to begin with.
For all the doom and gloom today, let's have a little perspective. There are only 32 NHL GM jobs in the world. There will be a lineup of candidates for this one. It isn't going to take a competent GM 5 to 10 years to fix Chayka's mess. How about this picture? Doan is hired as the COO of Hockey Ops and he hires a competent GM. A couple of shrewd trades and suddenly it doesn't look so bleak.
What a gut punch. We were already looking at another rebuild ahead of us with the lack of top picks in our immediate future and a less-than-perfect stable of prospects, and this just makes it that much worse. Looks like the Ghost of John Chayka will haunt us for a few seasons, at least.
There are some moves we might be able to make, but it really depends on what kind of rebuild or future planning the next GM wants to do. They'd obviously know way more than any of us regular jerks, but I'd almost expect to see a focus on trading for picks/prospects in the near future to offset the sanctions going into an expected rebuild phase. We can't afford to waste too many years off our younger players' lifespans and contracts prolonging a rebuild to get realistically competitive.
I have to process this mess and where they go from here, but this officially ends the John Chayka "reign of error," though the name will live on for another two years as we continue to hear "that was the Coyotes pick which was given up/penalty for John Chayka's...." So let's review, bottom 1/3 team, no (legit) playoff appearances, maxed out on cap, never drafted an impact player, and all the draft picks are gone for the next two years. May go down as a worse GM than Mike Milbury.
I will say this now puts John Chayka's departure in the appropriate context. The guy set the franchise up for a huge sanction, lied about his job opportunity with a competing franchise, and then walked right after telling the new owner he'd stay and signing a lengthy contract extension. I hope the Coyotes win their grievance and Chayka gets banned from the Devils organization. Phooey. I'm getting more angry about this as time passes.
Off the wall thought, but I wonder if Bettman hit the team with losing draft choices instead of fines due to the financial condition of the team? Merulo's hard core cost cutting over the last few months at the expense of team makes one wonder.
I don’t envy the marketing team for the next 3+ years. I would have considered myself a die-hard fan from 2012-18, but I’ve gone from watching 75ish games a year on TV or in-person to maybe 25. I find it hard to get emotionally invested into a team I don’t really believe in. Not that Don Maloney did an amazing job or that I was expecting a Stanley Cup, but seeing them falter after 6 years of “rebuilding” has really shaken my resolve.
Ultimately the reason I kept watching during the pre-Chayka years was having Doan on the team. When he left, I felt like I didn’t really have much of a connection to the team anymore. It comes down to not having a beloved player compelling me to watch Coyotes hockey when they are losing more games than they are winning.
I will never use the name John Chayka again. He will forevermore be 'The Weasel'. That aside, this isn't SMU receiving the death sentence. I think an experienced GM like Shero is more likely to navigate this mess than a 1st time GM. I hate it, but what's done is done. So, new GM, what's the plan?
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Bleeping Weasel
Kuemper is the backbone of the current team, but he would by far get the most assets in return for a rebuild. He is 30, and will be on the tail end of his career by the time a rebuild is done. Raanta is very good when healthy, Hill is capable backup and Prosvetov is a stud for the future. Goalie depth is what Chayka excelled at for this team. They should take advantage of it. Raanta’s value may be Low from injuries and only 1 year remaining on contract. The team needs assets and lots of them. This is tough but manageable if the right (but potentially difficult) trades are made. Hitting some draft picks out of the park needs to happen too.
What sucks about this is it seems like fans are being punished as well. These sanctions really inhibit the clubs ability to improve.
I would much rather see fines against the team or even against the individuals involved.
Coyotes fans just have to pretend they are like fans of teams that have recently won a Cup or two. Aging team, no draft picks and players who can’t play up to their contracts any longer. Minus the Cup(s). That’s the pretend part.
"...I ultimately conclude that the record does not establish — to a standard with which I am comfortable — that those individuals engaged in intentional wrongdoing, as opposed to grossly negligent behavior.”
That's really interesting wording. So...they did whatever they did accidentally, without knowing it was wrong? Isn't that an issue with whatever the rules/guidance say? Or does it mean something else, like, if I ram my car into a building full conscious of what I was doing because I thought they cheated me out of something, that is intentional, but if I do the same thing because I am rip-roaring drunk, it is grossly negligent?
I wish the league were more clear about both what the Coyotes did and what their ruling means.
Please insert a lot of George Carlin words here.
This definitely puts salt on the wounds of their ugly playoff exit. It's not like their prospect pool is deep with promising talent. Here is hoping Jenik is a good as he looks. Although he's probably still a couple of years away. I know Hayton's time in the NHL has been brief im not sold on him being a top 5 pick.
When it comes to trading, I think they should do all they can to trade OEL. A couple of seasons ago he was a amazing. He has seemed like a different player with Tochett. If they can't resign Hall, the player I think they should target is Mike Hoffman.
Jeez it sucks being a Yotes fan sometimes..."if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have no luck at all..."
That punishment is significant. First round draft picks are gold and are the highest probability a team has to score a superior talent. My guess is that the violation is more than we can tell at this point.
It also sounds like the league is making an example out of the coyotes here.
They won’t have any problem finding a GM. If the GM fails they were behind the eight ball to begin with.
For all the doom and gloom today, let's have a little perspective. There are only 32 NHL GM jobs in the world. There will be a lineup of candidates for this one. It isn't going to take a competent GM 5 to 10 years to fix Chayka's mess. How about this picture? Doan is hired as the COO of Hockey Ops and he hires a competent GM. A couple of shrewd trades and suddenly it doesn't look so bleak.
What a gut punch. We were already looking at another rebuild ahead of us with the lack of top picks in our immediate future and a less-than-perfect stable of prospects, and this just makes it that much worse. Looks like the Ghost of John Chayka will haunt us for a few seasons, at least.
There are some moves we might be able to make, but it really depends on what kind of rebuild or future planning the next GM wants to do. They'd obviously know way more than any of us regular jerks, but I'd almost expect to see a focus on trading for picks/prospects in the near future to offset the sanctions going into an expected rebuild phase. We can't afford to waste too many years off our younger players' lifespans and contracts prolonging a rebuild to get realistically competitive.
I have to process this mess and where they go from here, but this officially ends the John Chayka "reign of error," though the name will live on for another two years as we continue to hear "that was the Coyotes pick which was given up/penalty for John Chayka's...." So let's review, bottom 1/3 team, no (legit) playoff appearances, maxed out on cap, never drafted an impact player, and all the draft picks are gone for the next two years. May go down as a worse GM than Mike Milbury.
Can we really call it a rebuild when we really never finished building the first time? Hopefully it’s just a retool that works heavily in our favor.