Arizona Coyotes Could Be Risking Too Much by Tanking Away 2015-16 NHL Season

If the Buffalo Sabres decided to be competitive instead of tanking for Connor McDavid, the Arizona Coyotes would have had the worst record in the NHL last year. A team that has struggled to stay in their current market would have had the worst record in the NHL. As a result, fans aren’t surprised when rumors of the Coyotes relocating to Las Vegas in a year (or in general) started. This shouldn’t come as a shock as the team has another chance to achieve the worst record in hockey in 2015-16.

First of all, according to General Fanager, the Coyotes are just over $1 million under the salary cap floor. That is after trading for the contracts of Chris Pronger and Nicklas Grossman. Acquiring Pronger signals that the Coyotes are willing to spend money on players who won’t play for them, similar to the Sabres acquiring Evander Kane earlier this year.

Another similarity to the Sabres is that they signed Anders Lindback to team up with Mike Smith, forming the worst goaltending tandem in the league. However, the Coyotes brought back two loyal players in Antoine Vermette and Zbynek Michalek, but likely in an attempt to reach the cap floor.

The one thing Arizona has going for them is their prospect pool. They have plenty of exciting players to look forward to including Dylan Strome, Max Domi, Christian Dvorak, Nick Merkley and Christian Fischer (even though all of them are forwards). But there isn’t a more important name to the 2015-16 Arizona Coyotes than Auston Matthews. If the Arizona native was born two days earlier, Matthews would probably be an Arizona Coyote as he is in a similar tier as McDavid and Jack Eichel. Because he has a late birthday, Matthews is projected to be the first overall pick in next year’s entry draft.

The Coyotes would love nothing more than a hometown player to be the center of their franchise and that is why the Coyotes will tank toward the bottom of the standings in a similar way that the Sabres did last year. The future looks brighter in Arizona, especially if they land Matthews. But with the ongoing saga of relocating the team, should the Coyotes waste a season like this?

Matthews could help fans achieve solace in this upcoming season. That is until they lose the draft lottery; then all hell might break loose. Like the Sabres of last year, Arizona shouldn’t rely on a 20 percent chance to possibly save their franchise as they don’t have a lot of time to work with.