Coyotes Core Ready for Even Greater Leadership Role as Camp Kicks Off

A new hockey season is finally upon us.
The Arizona Coyotes
kick off NHL training camp
today, and though the Ice Den will be filled with a lot of familiar faces beginning Thursday, there's also quite a few from the 2021-22 team that have since moved on.
Gone are veteran players Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Anton Stralman, Phil Kessel, and Alex Galchenyuk - a combination of players that total 5,080 games, 2,557 points and three Stanley Cups.
If there's any positive to be taken from that, however, it's that there's already a core in place ready to take on an even greater leadership role this season. That's saying something considering the strong foundation they already started building a year ago.

Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, and Christian Fischer have a combined 1,226 games with the Coyotes, and both general manager Bill Armstrong and head coach André Tourigny expect that group to further develop the gritty, hard-nosed style of play that defined the club last season.
In fact, they're counting on it.
"For us to have a successful season looks different than the Colorado Avalanche going far and deep into the playoffs," Armstrong said. "For us, we want to be competitive every single game. We want to make sure our guys bring their 'A' game every single night.
"We want to be a hard, gritty team that comes to compete in-your-face hockey every single night when you come watch the Coyotes play."

Arizona was difficult to play against last season, evidenced by its final game of the season against the playoff-bound Nashville Predators. Despite falling into an early 4-0 deficit, the team clawed its way back into the game and ended the season on a high note following a 5-4 come-from-behind win.
There's no question the Coyotes have a team full of leaders ready to contribute. Keller, for example, scored a career-best 28 goals and was on pace to set a new high in total points before an injury near the end of the season sidelined him for the remainder of the year. Schmaltz (59) and Crouse (34) set career highs in points, and Fischer's contributions
stemmed far beyond the scoresheet
.
Together, that's exactly what Tourigny is looking for as the 2022-23 season approaches.
"Even if people think leadership is about being a good hockey player, it's nothing related to being a good hockey player," the Coyotes' second-year head coach said. "It's taking charge, taking responsibility, and holding others accountable, and leading the right way, and all of it.
"It's a responsibility that can be heavy sometimes, and I think we have the right personnel, I think the guys are ready for it, I'm excited about our new leadership group, and I'm sure they will do a really good job, and that will be the next step for us."
That next step is something that the 24-year-old Keller, who is entering his seventh season with the Coyotes, is
embracing with open arms
.
"A lot of us young guys are kind of taking that next step in being leaders," he said. "We're more involved in team discussions with the coaching staff and things like that. I think last year I took a big step with leadership."
Schmaltz, 26, is the oldest of the aforementioned core, and
let his play do most of the talking
last year. The former first-round draft pick (2014) put together his most productive season since logging 52 points during the 2017-18 season, and tallied a historic seven-point game against the Ottawa Senators on March 5.
He said that even though he doesn't consider himself the most vocal person in the locker room, there are things he learned from stints with other championship-winning players, such as Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, that have helped him understand what it takes to get to the next level.
"I'm not the most vocal guy in the room, but I think I can lead by example by bringing it every day and working hard in practice," Schmaltz said. "If we have younger guys that need any help or direction in any way, I think I can assist in that way.
"I know when I was coming into the league, it's nice when you have the older guys to lean on a little bit and get comfortable around them right away, because it's nerve-wracking when you're a young kid coming in."

That leadership will prove invaluable as younger players look to acclimate to life in the NHL. The Coyotes had 11 players make their NHL debut last season, and there are likely to be more throughout the course of the upcoming year. Forwards Jack McBain and Nathan Smith, for example, each played 10 games in Arizona last season, and will compete for roster spots in camp.
Barrett Hayton, who signed a two-year contract on Tuesday, is looking to take the next step in his career after recording 24 points in 60 games last season.
The litany of experience that the Coyotes' current leadership group owns will go a long way to breeding success within the organization.
"I've been through some really good times here, and some bad times," said Crouse, who at 25-year-old is also entering his seventh season in the desert. "I think I have a lot of knowledge about the state, the game, so I think I can use that to my advantage. We have a lot of new guys, a lot of young faces, if I can help them out and show them what it's like here, I'm going to do that."

When Armstrong addressed the team prior to camp kicking off, he made sure to level set expectations. The club isn't just going through the motions, nor is it going to be an easy club to play against.
It's going to continue to build upon the culture it began building last year with a strong group of core players leading the way.
"We're not going to roll over," Armstrong said. "That's how I tried to address the group this morning, and say, listen, the odds are stacked against us. The media, the league looks at us like we're going to take a step back.
"I said, that's not the case. We've got to just take a step forward, and that was my message to the group this morning."