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Arizona Coyotes 2015-16 Season Predictions

By Richard Duflo

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The 2015-16 NHL season is almost upon us. The Arizona Coyotes first game will be October 9th against the Los Angeles Kings. With the new season comes everyone’s favorite game, season predictions!

The Arizona Coyotes had a rough season last year, and they made some trades, signed free agents and have dipped into their prospect pool. Is that enough to make them better?

RELATED: Arizona Coyotes Make Final Roster Cuts

I think the Arizona Coyotes will be a slightly better team, they are moving in a good direction in terms of homegrown talent, but I don’t think they will contend for a playoff spot. They have plenty of prospects, but most of them are not ready to make the jump to the NHL just yet.

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Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Jordan Martinook, Klas Dahlbeck and Tobias Rieder to name a few, are going to be key pieces, but they still need to grow their skills at the NHL level.

There is also Dylan Strome, Mattias Plachta, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini and Henrik Samuelsson waiting in the minors. They haven’t even reached the NHL yet, so they still need time to grow.

The 2015-16 season will be a year focused on growing and learning for the prospects more than it will be a serious contention year for the team.

Of course, anything can happen, and the team could click instantly and hit the ground running (see Calgary Flames last season).

Mike Smith is also an X-factor this season. As Smith goes, the Coyotes go. Last year, Smith had an awful season to say the least. Arizona Coyotes’ fans have come to expect more of Smith than that and he ended up finishing the season off looking superb.

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If Smith can rebound and play at a higher level this year, he could just carry the team pretty far as he did during the 2011-12 season.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of those things, but that’s okay. Teams that are going through a rebuild are going to have down years. Fortunately for Arizona, there is light at the end of this rebuild tunnel for the Coyotes.

They have one of the higher rated prospect pools in the NHL, and once they all come to fruition, it’ll pay off for the organization and the fans.

As of the 2015-16 season, most the prospects aren’t quite ready yet, and the rebuild is still in the early stages.

So, here we go!

  • Sixth in the Pacific Division
  • 13th in the Western Conference
  • 25th overall
  • Mikkel Boedker will lead the team in goals
  • Max Domi will lead the team in points
  • Max Domi will lead the team in assists

I know, not very promising, but last season was rock bottom. It’s going to take time and patience to climb back to the top of the standings, and the Arizona Coyotes are doing it a smart way by growing their talent.

If anything, the 2015-16 Coyotes should be exciting to watch as their offensive minded prospects start to crack the roster. They possess fine offensive skills that should make for entertaining hockey, even if they aren’t winning every night.

The Coyotes will kick off their 2015-16 campaign on Friday, October 9th in Los Angeles when they take on the Pacific Division rival Kings.

Next: Arizona Coyotes: Team Makes Final Roster Cuts

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