Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Did the Arizona Coyotes do enough to bolster their roster this summer?

With training camps officially opening up across the league, and the preseason now almost completely underway, we’re finally getting an actual view at what clubs look like heading into the new campaign. Some teams underwent a complete overhaul and are staring down changes for the new season, while others are looking mighty similar to the product that they iced last season, for better or for worse.

For the newly-minted Arizona Coyotes, they look to fall in the latter category there. While they did undergo some changes throughout their roster, they look to be facing many of the same problems that have plagued this team in recent years. Most notably, the issue for the Coyotes is their lack of offense. They simply have not received the type of offensive production necessary to get them over the playoff hump, especially in an already extremely difficult Western Conference.

In 2013-14, the Coyotes ranked 20th in the league overall in goals per game, while their normally strong defense was only good enough for 18th in the league in goals against. Not exactly a formula for success. Their offensive attack was led by Keith Yandle, who was their leading point-getter at 53 points on the year. Radim Vrbata was their highest scoring forward (tied with Mikkel Boedker), with 51 points, including 20 goals, good for third on the team. Radim Vrbata is no longer a member of the Coyotes after bolting in free agency. Mike Ribeiro, who registered the team’s fifth highest point total, is also departed after the Coyotes wasted no time in buying him out after one year.

In case you weren’t keeping count, two of the Coyotes’ top four scoring forwards are now gone. They did go out and get Sam Gagner, in that confusing evening swap in which he made a stop in Tampa Bay before heading to Phoenix. His transition will be an interesting one to watch, as he’s not particularly adept in the faceoff circle, and he’s not exactly a player noted for his offensive consistency. Which leaves the Coyotes’ core group of forwards at Boedker, Gagner, and…Shane Doan. When Shane Doan is considered an offensive catalyst, the outlook isn’t pretty.

Now, the Coyotes do have some intriguing prospects coming up through the ranks, such as Max Domi, that will try and earn a spot out of training camp. If they can transition appropriately, they can make something of a different on offense. And let’s not completely write the blue line off as a factor. They do have a pair of elite offensive defenseman, in Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, although Yandle isn’t exactly noted for his defensive ability on the backend.

When it comes down to it, though, this team is going to have to do a lot of work to claw their way to even a wild card berth. It’s going to take another Vezina Trophy-worthy campaign from Mike Smith, incredible blue line play, and some serious overachieving up front. They’ll be a tough team to play against, per usual, for sure, but it’d have to be a real perfect storm for the Coyotes to be taken seriously as contenders in the upcoming season. In short, given their conference and, more specifically, their division, expectations will likely be mighty low in the desert when the season does get underway.

About Randy Holt

Spending his days as an English teacher, Randy spends his afternoons, nights, and weekends as a writer on the Bloguin Network, as well as SB Nation. He is a staff writer for both Puck Drunk Love and The Outside corner, as well as Second City Hockey and Beyond the Box Score on SB Nation, showcasing his love for both hockey and baseball, as well as run-on sentences. A Chicago native (and Phoenix resident), he is an avid Game of Thrones viewer/reader and lover of red meat.

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