Arizona Coyotes

Coyotes vs Capitals (Round 2) (A compare and contrast essay)
March 31, 2017, 10:44 AM ET [20 Comments]
James Tanner
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The Capitals 51-17-8 , 110 points, first in the Metropolitan and first in the NHL, take on the Arizona Coyotes, 27-41-9 , 63 points, last in the Pacific, 29th in the NHL.


Last week these two teams met in Arizona, and the Capitals won 4-1.

It's interesting to compare and contrast the Caps and Coyotes because, while they are currently at opposite ends of the spectrum, the Coyotes are on the path to try and assume the Capitals current position.

Though they haven't won a championship, they are a model franchise.

The Capitals failed to make the Playoffs in either of Alex Ovechkin's first two seasons, but since then, they have made them eight out of nine years (not including this season).

During that time, they have two President's Trophies, and five division titles.

Even though they haven't won a Cup, they've essentially been one of the NHL's best teams for nine of the last ten years.



The Coyotes would take 1/2 of that success.

They might not have an Ovechkin - and were unlucky enough to miss out on McDavid, Eichel and Matthews, despite being terrible in each year those players were available - but they have put together a core that is going to insane.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is one of the NHL's best defenseman, and he's still relatively young. In addition, they have Max Domi, Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, Branden Perlini and Christians Fischer, Dvorak and Slater.

Not to mention a half-way decent shot at the first pick in this year's draft.

It's remarkable what the Capitals have accomplished in the time since Ovechkin was drafted. Three (likely) President's Trophies in ten years and a 90% playoff attendance record are things no team can even hope for.

But the Coyotes do have - for perhaps the first time ever - a quality foundation that can stand with any team in the league. While emulating the Capitals might be a longshot, the team is still built for longterm success.



The Toronto Maple Leafs showed you can have success in the NHL with an inordinate amount of young players and rookies, and I think we can look forward to the Coyotes icing a similar team next year.

It's never been more clear that the time to move on from Michalek, Doan, Smith (and one can only hope) Tippett, is now.

The Capitals struggled for two years and got off to a terrible start in the third year of Ovechkin's career, and things never really turned around until Bruce Boudreau was brought on board.

Perhaps the Coyotes just need to find their own Bruce Boudreau.