Dan Bickley

azcentral sports

The Coyotes don’t play for championships. Survival is their Stanley Cup.

On cue, they enter another offseason on the doorstep of chaos. They have ownership issues, leadership issues, stadium issues and a budget built to fail. Their never-ending dysfunction is so predictable that it elicits a collective yawn across the Valley, numbing us all to a powerful truth:

It would be a shame to lose this team on the ground floor of a revolution.

“There are some real positive signs with our young players,” Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said. “But for this team to improve, we need better top players.”

RELATED: Coyotes brass to discuss roster in coming weeks

Tippett’s frustration was evident following a fifth consecutive season without a playoff berth. His team fought hard to the bitter end, embracing the role of spoiler. They beat the Capitals with a six-goal barrage and twice toppled the rival Kings, once in an 11-round shootout, followed by a victory that eliminated Los Angeles from the postseason. Pretty cool stuff, and somehow, they scrambled their way out of last place in the Pacific Division.

But championship contenders always feature a handful of elite players. The Coyotes have only one – defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. That's on ownership, and that has to change immediately.

Tippett has been stoic and unflappable during his eight-year run in Arizona. Near the end of the 2016-17 season, he was tasked to win with nine players on entry-level contracts. And when Ekman-Larsson, Shane Doan, and Radim Vrbata were unavailable for a game, veteran equipment manager Stan Wilson scrambled to find badges for a temporary captain and two alternates.

Even Tippett’s mother was impressed while watching from her home in British Columbia.

“She texted me after one game and said, ‘Wow, that’s the youngest lineup I’ve ever seen in the NHL,’“ Tippett said.

RELATED: Playoff drought frustrates rebuilding Coyotes

The Coyotes badly need stability and dynamic leadership. They need to replace Anthony LeBlanc as the team’s mouthpiece, finding someone who strikes the right tone in the community. They need a team president like the Diamondbacks’ Derrick Hall, who can tie all the pieces together, presenting the organizational vision in a coherent, convincing fashion.

Tippett’s tone following the conclusion of the season was a warning salvo to his bosses, when he pointed out the difference between his top point producer, Vrbata, and Blackhawks’ star Patrick Kane. At some point, one of the NHL’s most respected leaders is going to need some help from above.

Already, Tippett has been overloaded with responsibilities. The team’s payroll is laughable and the marketing efforts are almost non-existent. If majority owner Andrew Barroway succeeds in buying out his minority partners, including Tippett’s closest ally (Gary Drummond), there is a growing fear that Tippett could simply resign, walking away from the last four years on his contract.

It’s bad enough that the Coyotes might lose their beloved captain, Doan, who is clearly no fan of the current management structure. If Tippett loses faith in the team’s ability to supplement his rebuilding efforts with real NHL impact players, then all faith will be lost.

The stadium issue isn’t much better. It’s becoming apparent that Suns owner Robert Sarver has no desire to share a multi-purpose facility with a NHL team. The state legislature has no chance of passing a bill that will fund a new arena. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the Coyotes “cannot and will not remain in Glendale.” All that’s left is tribal land in the Valley, or moving vans will be summoned to take the team elsewhere.

The worst mistake Arizonans can make is caring about the NHL and our status as a big-league sports market after the Coyotes are gone, when it’s too late to make a difference. For proof, a Hartford columnist recently bemoaned the loss of the Whalers, a team that relocated 20 years ago, ripping the hearts out of an extremely loyal fan base.

That effect wouldn’t be the same in Valley, where options and sports franchises abound. But there are similarities between the two organizations, from an arena that was a haven for out-of-town fans to the presence of Tippett, who spent his first seven years in a Whalers jersey.

At times like this, it’s important to look ahead and not behind. The Coyotes have a core of promising young players. Max Domi is a rising star. Brendan Perlini has a blistering speed and a great shot. Christian Dvorak was the most pleasant surprise of the season. And after a dismal six months, which included a minor-league demotion, Anthony Duclair ended the year with a little bit of momentum.

“Last summer, he got comfortable coming to camp,” Tippett said. “He let other people take his job. He didn’t defend his job. He played a little better down the stretch, and hopefully, it’s something he can grab onto. But we let him know: He’s going to come to camp with no assurances.”

Alas, there are never any assurances with the Coyotes. They are team that can’t grow roots and a team that can’t cover the price of winning. But after all the madness that Valley hockey fans have endured, they’re also a team we can’t afford to lose, allowing some other city to reap the fruits of our struggle.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him on twitter.com/dan.bickley. Listen to “Bickley and Marotta” weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.