5 offseason moves the Coyotes need to execute

With the 2017-18 NHL season officially over, it’s time for teams to re-evaluate and get ready for the upcoming campaign. The Arizona Coyotes may have one of the greatest chances to shine next year, if they play their cards right.

A squad full of youth and explosiveness resulted in more of the same this past season for Arizona. Recent years have witnessed the Coyotes become one of the most unattended franchises, and a rumored favorite to become relocated in the future.

A lot of what has to do with the Coyotes not receiving as much attention from the league is simply from their results on the ice. The promise is currently there, but the next steps need to be taken quickly to prove any one doubting the franchise wrong.

John Chayka has made some brilliant moves since the start of his tenure in the desert. A general manager who controls the cap extraordinarily while locking up key players such as Derek Stepan and Niklas Hjalmarsson to surround the young core at the moment.

It’s a project that has been slowly progressing over the course of time. The rebuild has been painful to experience at times since the 2012 Western Conference Finals loss to the Los Angeles Kings, but supporters were promised that it’d be worth it for the time ahead.

That time is now. The upcoming summer could be the most important offseason for the long-term project and the Coyotes franchise itself. There’s areas to fill, players to lock up and potential missing puzzle pieces just waiting to be placed.

Next season could be a huge step into the right direction if everything falls into place this summer. It will be a big test for Chayka, but this piece will hopefully try to make it a bit easier for him. Here are five moves in all offseason categories that Arizona should definitely consider executing this offseason.

5. Start with the obvious

The freight train was rolling not too long ago in terms of a new deal for defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. An array of sources indicated that the Swede could be demanding around $8 million, which would put him near the top as one of the highest paid defenders in the NHL.

Larsson is already down for the next campaign, but the summer after is where the worry would start as the defender would then become a UFA.

It’s obviously not worth it to let one of the best defensive players in the league just walk into free agency. Plus, Larsson has been an absolute trooper to the Coyotes by sticking around for the whole project while being a top candidate for captain in the near future.

Thankfully, the Yotes saw the light, agreeing verbally to an eight-year-deal worth more than $8 million per season according to TSN.

The current 26-year-old just continues to produce season-after-season no matter how the whole team is doing in the standings. OEL totaled an impressive 14 goals and 28 assists this past season for a squad in the basement of the standings.

The amount the Swede is reportedly worth is no joke, but neither is the product on the ice.

Additionally, the Coyotes have $22 million in cap space. It’s the biggest total in the league because Chayka has managed it properly. However, the manager needs to drop the bucks here on a player that means so much to the franchise.

Deals like this take time to complete, but there’s no doubt that something big will come from it this summer.