Why Sending Guenther Down Was Smart & Why Crouse Will Flourish With Roster Additions
Welcome to the THW Arizona Coyotes Substack newsletter, with all the latest from our team of Coyotes writers.
In today’s edition, we have trying to predict the Coyotes’ first road trip, why the Coyotes sent Dylan Guenther down to Tucson Roadrunners, and why Lawson Crouse will thrive with roster additions.
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Predicting the Arizona Coyotes’ First Road Trip
October 9, 2023 by Cooper Krigbaum
The Arizona Coyotes are just under a week from kicking off the 2023-24 campaign, and there is much anticipation. The team starts the season on a four-game road trip, beginning in New Jersey. Though, the Coyotes have not fared well to start the year in the previous two seasons. In 2021-22, they started 0-9-1, and then 3-6-1 in 2022-23. Clearly, the team hasn’t been known to get off to a hot start, but they have a chance with a much-improved roster to change that this season.
With the signings of veterans Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba, and Alex Kerfoot, the Coyotes have a much better team on paper. However, it’s important they get off to a hot start; while going up against three playoff teams from last season will be challenging, anything is possible. Goaltenders Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram have played well during preseason play, and the team will need them big-time on this road trip. With that said, let’s try predicting how they’ll do to kick off the 2023-24 season.
Coyotes Sending Guenther Down Is the Smart Move
October 9, 2023 by Cooper Krigbaum
When the Arizona Coyotes traded Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks, the return was all that mattered. They acquired loads of bad contracts but also received a 2021 first-round pick, which fell at number nine in the draft. That pick became one of the Coyotes’ top prospects, Dylan Guenther.
Guenther has been all over the place during the past two seasons, playing for multiple junior teams and now soon-to-be Tucson Roadrunners. General manager (GM) Bill Armstrong sent Guenther down to the American Hockey League (AHL). Was that decision smart? Or should they have let him start the season in the NHL and decide later?
Coyotes’ Crouse Expected to Flourish After Roster Additions
October 10, 2023 by Richard Jelinek
When the Arizona Coyotes take the ice for Game 1 against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, Oct. 13, the organization may have its best roster in years. This team has more speed, scoring depth, and experience. However, there is one player who is returning that may be the most important as the team continues to push towards a winning record. That player is winger Lawson Crouse.
Crouse is not a homegrown talent like most players in the NHL are. He was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the first round (11th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-4 and 215-pound forward had finished a season with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and were looking to the next set of challenges. Crouse finished his OHL career with Kingston after 168 games and three seasons. He totaled 67 goals and 73 assists for 140 points, 190 penalty minutes, and was a plus-33. He achieved all he could and had nothing left to prove; after that it was on to the NHL with the Panthers.