Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

The Coyotes’ transformation from a footnote in the standings to a viable playoff candidate in less than a year isn’t a fluke.

Plenty of decisions executed in the offseason or training camp have panned out, lifting the team to the No. 3 seed in the Pacific Division amid a 24-20-5 record for 53 points at the NHL All-Star break.

Perhaps the most significant catalyst for the positives up to this point – and even a few of the areas that continue to improve – is the team’s youth, which seems to be capitalizing on the opportunity to make a difference.

“There’s growth in the organization, and that’s exactly what we were looking for coming into the season,” coach Dave Tippett said.

Aside from rejuvenating the franchise and adding a layer of intrigue after a miserable finish to last season, the tangible contributions from the new faces have been entirely valuable.

Wingers Max Domi and Anthony Duclair have boosted the offense with each chipping in 13 goals while ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, in points among rookies.

Lower in the lineup, winger Jordan Martinook has become a source of secondary scoring, a trusted penalty-killer and a lightning rod for energy. Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck has also found a niche in his first full-season in the NHL, emerging as a tough competitor on the blue line.

And then there’s goalie Louis Domingue, who has helped buoy the team in Mike Smith’s absence to deal with a core muscle injury.

Since arriving, Domingue has gone 9-3-3 in starts and boasts a .924 save percentage, which clears the league average of .917.

“It might not have been major panic when Mike went down, but it was minor panic thinking, ‘Oh, boy. This is not good,'" General Manager Don Maloney said. "But for him to come in and grab a hold of it, and, really, there’s very few nights he hasn’t given us a chance. (We) haven’t had to do anything. We’ve sort of run with it.”

The defense deserves credit, too, for playing mostly tighter since Domingue took over.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson continues to evolve into one of the game’s most dynamic presences from the back end, and his pairing with Connor Murphy points to Murphy’s maturation as someone who can handle the challenging matchups Ekman-Larsson elicits.

Nicklas Grossmann has been a smart addition, a gritty, stable defender who doubles as a mentor for the youngsters.

And it’s that mix of youth and experience that seems to be working for the Coyotes.

Captain Shane Doan appears revitalized as he’s pacing the entire team in goals with 17.

"He’s like reborn," Maloney said. "I think it’s just the enthusiasm the young people have brought to the table."

When healthy, center Martin Hanzal has been a productive set-up man and a complement for Duclair. Winger Tobias Rieder is having a solid second year, having already reached the 30-point plateau, and winger Mikkel Boedker is the team’s co-leader in points with 34.

Boedker is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and when asked how talks on a potential new deal are progressing, Maloney said, “We’re working on things.”

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Overall, the offense is 12th-best in the NHL at 2.65 goals-per-game.

But this season hasn’t been without its growing pains.

Arizona was out-of-sorts in early December during a season-long five-game losing streak. It’s struggled at times with poor starts, and the team’s goals-against (2.96 per-game) has room to improve.

Special teams, however, would probably be considered the most uneven facet of the Coyotes' performance through the first 49 games.

In mid-November, the power play sat last in the league at 11.6 percent. It's given up a league-high nine shorthanded goals.

The unit received a makeover after point-man Keith Yandle was traded last season, and it took time for players to adapt. Boedker was tasked with moving to the blue line, and newbies like Domi and Duclair also had to adjust to their roles.

Currently, the Coyotes rank 17th at 17.8 percent.

"We hit some hiccups early in the season with the shorthanded goals and the turnovers," Maloney said. "But for the most part, it’s sort of helped us sort of stay in games."

The penalty kill was an area the team wanted to enhance during the offseason, and Arizona acquired Grossmann and center Boyd Gordon, in part, to help the team’s shorthanded play.

Early on, the unit found a rhythm and ranked 12th (81.3 percent) in November. But lately, it’s been on the decline and has dropped to 28th at 76.6 percent.

"Our penalty kill has taken a little slide," Maloney said. "We had a bad couple games there, really gave up a lot. So now we’ve slid down to, on a percentage basis, to the bottom."

All of these snapshots tied together, though, have equaled progress that appears to have validated the team’s decision to dole out responsibility to rookies.

And if these players keep having an impact, it probably only raises the team’s confidence that more youngsters can help in the future.

“You start looking down the road and you say, ‘OK, next year maybe there’s another couple people we can introduce to our team,’” Maloney said. “They’ve having good years. Just gaining that experience of hopefully a playoff run or games in March that mean something, that’s so important to building our culture back to where it was a few years ago.”

Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.