Coyotes monthly mailbag: You asked, we tried to answer

Mar 7, 2018; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Arizona Coyotes forward Derek Stepan (21) celebrates his goal with forward Clayton Keller (9) against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) (not pictured) during the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
By Craig Morgan
Aug 20, 2019

August is the slowest month for NHL news but never fear: Training camp is a little more than three weeks away.

There will be plenty of important questions to answer in the coming weeks, so let’s get to your more irreverent ones in the final summer mailbag.

The staff at Gila River Arena maintains the ice, but it is also overseen by the NHL’s facilities management department.

Ice in warm-weather climates is a challenge. If you look at polls of NHL players, Gila River Arena is regularly joined by Honda Center (Anaheim), BB&T Center (Florida) and PNC Arena (Carolina) as the worst arenas in the league (along with Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which has its own set of issues). Conversely, the best ice is often found in cold climates: Bell Centre (Montreal), Rogers Place (Edmonton), Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg), Xcel Energy Center (Minnesota) and Scotiabank Saddledome (Calgary).

Stepan is under contract for two more seasons so I don’t expect them to do anything with his contract after this season. He will be 31 at the end of his contract, but the Coyotes probably hope that Barrett Hayton, Nick Schmaltz and Christian Dvorak have developed enough to all warrant significant ice time by then.

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What happens with Stepan long-term depends on the development of those other players and whether Stepan can get back to the sort of production that defined his career before last season. If the Coyotes are a playoff team this season, I can’t imagine them trading him at the deadline. If they are not, maybe that is an option they will consider, but with Brad Richardson’s and Carl Söderberg’s contracts expiring after this season, they’ll have to consider how much of a hit their center depth can take.

So you’re looking for me to write a book then, Matt? I think you know I don’t like rankings. John Chayka, Don Maloney and Bobby Smith all had their successes.

As far as ownership, Richard Burke was a solid owner and IceArizona saved the team from relocation. We’ll see what Alex Meruelo brings.

I think it was on the radar before Alex came on board. They wanted a greater presence with their radio partner than they were getting from Arizona Sports.

Further reading for you, Tim: https://www.thebalance.com/inverted-yield-curve-3305856

I was hoping Daryl Jones would weigh in.

My money is on Meruelo. Fortunately, I haven’t been in a fight since fourth grade. I’m a man of peace and intellectual solutions.

Brad Richardson is the ringleader (Kevin Connauton used to help) and organizes the skates by texting/calling players. He also rents the ice and has input on the drills designed by the development coaches. Simple communication allows them to know who is in town.

I’m not sure there was any real soul searching on the part of the current staff. John Chayka didn’t draft Dylan Strome. Don Maloney did, but Strome didn’t really fit the style that Rick Tocchet wanted to play. He wanted more speed through the middle (I should note that Dave Tippett didn’t want to draft Strome, either).

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I’m not sure if you intended this, but what bothers me about this whole storyline is that too many people assume Dylan Strome has figured it out and will now be an uber-productive player. The assumption is that the verdict is already in: Chicago won the trade. It’s an absurd position to take after such a small sample size. He may continue on this path and that would be great for Dylan because he is a terrific kid, but let’s see if he can sustain something he only did over a partial season last season, and let’s see what Nick Schmaltz can do with a full season. The guy had 14 points in 17 games. This may a beneficial trade for both teams.

Sorry, man. I don’t do sports bars. When you visited the Nattie Hattie podcast at a Gilbert bar, it was one of the rare times I have been to a sports bar. This is probably a better question for Jaime Eisner.

I like this idea. Maybe they should open a La Pizza Loca at Gila River Arena.

I haven’t heard anything about new concessions. Then again, I haven’t asked. I think it is currently No. 479 on my priority list of Coyotes questions.

I have no idea. Sorry.

Hmm. I think this is worthy of deeper investigation. OEL and most of the Euros play soccer, but the word is that Brad Richardson and Clayton Keller are superb golfers.

Ireland (especially the west) is still tops on my list, but the Amalfi Coast in Italy is pretty special. If we’re talking North America, Vancouver, Victoria and the San Juan Islands make for a great summer trip.

I’ll go with 65.

I don’t think Marleau wants to play here, so I’ll go with zero. At least to media, I’ll go with Christian Dvorak as the quietest Coyote.

Capobianco has been doing some drills with the other players at informal skates. It’s just a matter of how quickly they want to rush him into more team activities or even preseason games. I think they will be careful with him. He’s ready for training camp, but there are things he hasn’t done in a long time so they will bring him along slowly.

I think baseball lends itself better to those sorts of in-game moves based on analytics than a free-flowing, fast-moving game like hockey does. Those sorts of discussions will more likely occur the day before a game than on a game day, or during a game.

Perform an entire REM concert with the music blaring in the background. No lip-syncing. I brought it that night. Fans still talk about that performance.

This may surprise you to hear from a Chicagoan but I think Lou Malnati’s is overrated. The sauce is remarkably bland, and sauce is so vitally important to pizza. I don’t know that I can answer your three-styles question, but I’m a big fan of Pizzeria Bianco and Cibo. I have always liked Giordano’s deep dish and for convenience pizza, I’ll turn to Rosati’s just about every time, for thin crust or deep dish.

I’m not qualified to answer this question. Cat Silverman is, however. She’s a hot dog aficionado and a huge Star Wars fan. She likes Star Wars almost as much as The Lord of the Rings. She has an R2-D2 Koozie.

There is no update because that has not been decided. It will depend on how he looks at training camp.

Awful, but my Scooby-Doo impression is spot-on.

My best guess at the first two lines (which will change many times over the course of the season)
Crouse-Schmaltz-Kessel
Soderberg/Dvorak-Stepan-Keller

First PP unit: Schmaltz and Kessel on the half walls, OEL up top. The other parts will be determined through experimentation at camp. Keller, Chychrun and maybe Stepan, Crouse, Fischer or Soderberg will play roles. Somebody needs to man the net front.

Meruelo will play the principal role in any arena decision. He’ll be footing a major portion of the bill. As to location, it’s premature to say. Meruelo is still getting the lay of the land. The previous explorations will certainly inform his decision, but he will likely want to do his own research when planning such an expensive project.

I think anything along the 101 corridor would be a good location, but I’m pushing for one in southeast Gilbert. I don’t like my current commute.

It’s always a possibility if an opportunity arises, but I don’t think it’s likely. The roster is likely set and they’d like some of their Tucson players to have a shot at providing depth. I’m not even sure we’ll see a PTO in camp. PTOs are to create internal competition. They feel they already have that.

Cat Silverman. Obviously. But if it has to be a rostered player, I’m going with Ilya Lyubushkin. He likes the press box dogs. I’ll have to introduce him to something better in the Valley, which is to say, basically any hot dog anywhere.

(Top photo: Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA Today Sports)

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