5 NHL teams John Tavares should stay away from in 2018-19
By C.L. Kohuss
4. Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes have a mountain of cap space at a projected $25 million as of now. They have a lot of options as to who they can sign to make their team better. Arizona absolutely needs to pursue a big name like Tavares or Carlson — someone that will boost the Coyotes up from the cellar.
The thing is, Tavares needs to stay as far away from this club as possible. Arizona is highly unstable. It also sits near the basement constantly in home attendance. While the Coyotes could throw as much money at him as they want, they often don’t for big names which is why they generally have plenty to spend. We’d love to see this team pick him up and be incredibly successful. Or for them to pick up anyone worth their salt and be hugely successful. I’ve been personally rooting for a successful franchise in Arizona since the late 1990s.
But this team is in the midst of a pretty tough spot. Every year questions abound about whether or not the club might relocate or be sold. A relocation could certainly benefit them, if they intended to put a good product on the ice consistently. The Coyotes have only hit the 80-point mark once since 2012, though. Ouch.
This is not a team Tavares should have at the top of his list. That isn’t to straight bash the Coyotes. Again, we’d love for them to go full Nashville and become the loudest arena in hockey with sellouts across the board. But it’s not likely to happen any time soon, if ever. This should be a no-brainer. Don’t waste your career with ifs and buts.