Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

The majority of the spots on the Coyotes roster are tied up by returning veterans — captain Shane Doan, last season's leading scorer Keith Yandle, shutdown center Martin Hanzal and players of that ilk.

A few more positions have been nailed down by offseason acquisitions such as center Sam Gagner.

But there are some holes that still have to be filled to complete the 23-man roster, and it's anybody's guess at this point who ends up winning those jobs.

"I would say there's probably 15 or 16 guys I can put their names on the board, and I know they're going to be there," coach Dave Tippett said. "There's another five or six that are going to be there. It's just where they fit. And then there's that five or six underneath that could easily take one of those and move up the chain."

The Coyotes opened training camp Thursday with 62 players — the most since Tippett's tenure started five years ago. All passed their medical and fitness testing, and a quick glance at the physique of those milling around Gila River Arena impressed Tippett.

"It's exciting to walk into that gym and see the size of our players," he said. "The fitness of our players is a strong indicator that guys have put the work in this summer, and it's time to get playing. There's a lot of big guys in there."

Adding muscle and grit was an offseason priority, and the Coyotes targeted that by asking for winger B.J. Crombeen in the Gagner trade with Tampa Bay and signing depth center Joe Vitale as a free agent.

They also brought in options with forwards Krys Barch and Matt Kassian among four players in camp on a tryout basis. Barch, considering he played for Tippett in Dallas, will be one to watch.

"He knows how to play the game and is obviously a physical guy that sticks up for his teammates, things like that," Tippett said. "Just seemed like a good fit. With him not having a place to go, he took the opportunity and came in and he'll vie for a job."

There's also a handful of prospects still turning heads, and Tippett isn't overlooking these players because of their inexperience. In fact, former first-round picks Max Domi, Henrik Samuelsson and Brendan Perlini are boasting rave reviews from their performance in rookie camp.

"It's not out of the question one of these guys comes in and has a good camp and be able to stay with our team," Tippett said. "We've said all along whether it's a young player, a tryout, if somebody makes us better, we can add them to our team and that might be at the sake of somebody losing their job.

"The business part of it comes into it, but everybody here is committed to having the best possible team we can, and you can't rule out any player that you think might help you win."

This depth at camp is new. In the past, most spots were spoken for and competition was minimal. But more looks will be given this year before the first round of cuts Sunday with the hope it flips the Coyotes back into the playoff picture after sitting out the past two seasons.

"We want to be the best team we possible can now and after 40 games and hopefully going into the playoffs," Tippett said. "So all those things come into play, and players have the chance to make their first impression this week."

Roster moves

Ten players from rookie camp did not receive invites to training camp: goalie Adam Brown; defensemen Joel Hanley, Dysin Mayo, Jordon Southorn, Guy Leboeuf, Ashton Sautner and Dakota Mermis; and forwards Jackson Playfair, Colby Cave and Andrew Mangiapane.