Fire Tocchet

[Neighborhood Coyote]

from above, imo a major reason Tocc was able to do well last year despite injuries was bc of our defensive ability, which is bc Allen. And then he fired him. That by itself is enough imo, not counting all of the other very valid points raised by everyone above

Yes, another huge red flag.... getting rid of the best assistant (screwing him over, really) while keeping the one who hasn't done well just because "Allen wasn't a different enough voice from Tocchet". Doesn't get much more suspect than that.

 

[XX]

Tocchet's teams consistently play ugly, ineffective, inefficient 5v5 hockey. It generates no consistent offensive pressure so the miles add up on the players. They get injured and/or exhausted, then frustrated with how much harder they have to work for a lesser result compared to everyone else.

Other available coaches don't have this track record. Boudreau and Lavi actually have as-good-as-it-gets favorable impacts on their teams. I've outlined this before.

Chayka needs to wise up. Maybe they will drop the charade when the math gets really bad and stop telling the fans that no, actually, that piss is rain.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Some data on RT being the Kessel Whisperer. Perhaps Tocchet is actually Kessel's kryptonite?

 

[PainForShane]

Yes, another huge red flag.... getting rid of the best assistant (screwing him over, really) while keeping the one who hasn't done well just because "Allen wasn't a different enough voice from Tocchet". Doesn't get much more suspect than that.

Yeah it's actually worse than what you said:

"While he lauded the job Allen did for him, and the hours he dedicated, Tocchet knew he wanted to add a strong voice to his staff. He wanted an assistant coach who commanded the respect of his players; a vocal guy who would help remove that burden from Tocchet. Tocchet worried that if he were always the one banging the drum, the players might tire of his voice."

https://theathletic.com/1060036/2019/07/02/scott-allen-will-not-return-as-coyotes-assistant-coach/ -- paywall but well worth the money, athletic is high quality and not too expensive.

Isn't the HC's job is the guy to be vocal, beat the drum, call his players out etc? It's far more acceptable for the assistants to be the friend of the players and / or locker room (Kessel whisperer etc). In other words HCs bang the drum, if he's not comfortable doing than RT is in the wrong job / never should have been hired.

And also (same article)
"'My job is to make the players and the staff the best it can be so I would be foolish not to always be looking,' Tocchet said."

Mr Wendy's should learn something from the guy he should've fired two weeks ago!!! One can only hope -- though i suppose hope is not a plan. Not sure where I heard that before

 

[BUX7PHX]

Yeah it's actually worse than what you said:

"While he lauded the job Allen did for him, and the hours he dedicated, Tocchet knew he wanted to add a strong voice to his staff. He wanted an assistant coach who commanded the respect of his players; a vocal guy who would help remove that burden from Tocchet. Tocchet worried that if he were always the one banging the drum, the players might tire of his voice."

https://theathletic.com/1060036/2019/07/02/scott-allen-will-not-return-as-coyotes-assistant-coach/ -- paywall but well worth the money, athletic is high quality and not too expensive.

Isn't the HC's job is the guy to be vocal, beat the drum, call his players out etc? It's far more acceptable for the assistants to be the friend of the players and / or locker room (Kessel whisperer etc). In other words HCs bang the drum, if he's not comfortable doing than RT is in the wrong job / never should have been hired.

And also (same article)
"'My job is to make the players and the staff the best it can be so I would be foolish not to always be looking,' Tocchet said."

Mr Wendy's should learn something from the guy he should've fired two weeks ago!!! One can only hope -- though i suppose hope is not a plan. Not sure where I heard that before

Exactly - if the head coach isn't the one banging the drum, doesn't it sound unusual to come from an assistant coach or a video coach?

Granted, I get that not every coach is purely out to do everything. Belichick has his coordinators call plays. But ultimately, he has his pulse on everything and is able to lower the boom when needed. He has made decisions that are both popular and unpopular, but because he has a clearly defined protocol of where the orders come from, people know he is in charge. Contrast that with Tocchet - if he is suggesting that he needed another powerful voice in the room, then a) does he have his pulse on everything and is he able to be the bad guy, b) if his voice isn't the powerful one in the room, should he be the head coach, and c) do his decisions seem like they are in the logic of not pissing people off, as opposed to creating some sort of challenge for his players to overcome?

I completely forgot about this article, and it makes me realize - good to great assistant coach, but probably not a solid head coach.

 

[XX]

The 'bang the drum' shit is actually just cover for hiring one of Tocchet's friends that he's more comfortable working with (comfort, in this professional instance, being a very bad thing).

 

[CoyoteDave]

I reiterate, this is all on Chayka. He had a chance 2 or 3 weeks ago to make a change at HC and still have time to right the ship. Chayka brought Tocchet in and now most likely knows that it was a mistake. He was not, and has not to date been willing to admit to that mistake and make the required change. It will be telling as to when Tocchet is let go. Immediately after the season is over or sometime in June.

 

[XX]

Chayka brought Tocchet in and now most likely knows that it was a mistake.

I don't have a problem with Chayka letting Tocchet sink this season if it means it gives him the cover with ownership to change coaches. It doesn't look good to potential hires if you have the team in 1st but you pull the plug early on a coach that so far had done well.

I mainly don't want to hear f*** all about Tocchet from anyone connected to the team until the Coyotes are eliminated. No fluff or patter, please. Make it clear he has a job to do and let him go if he doesn't do it. The sycophants in the media like Morgan need to be quiet too. Makes me nauseous.

 

[rt]

Peter Laviolette was fired January 6th. Since January 9th the Coyotes are 29th in the NHL in points. From January 9th to February 1st they won a single game while losing eight games. They won just one of eight games, there. That's a three game losing streak, a win, and a five game losing streak. If they'd have fired him after the fourth game of the second losing streak, and brought in Laviolette in on Feb 1st, would that shot in the arm have given them enough of a boost to win more than 5 of those 13 games? And would it give them more of a chance to win more of the remaining 16 games? I sure think so. Probably enough to squeek into the playoffs, get Taylor Hall nice and used to Laviolette, and all excited about the direction of the team.

 

[rt]

I reiterate, this is all on Chayka. He had a chance 2 or 3 weeks ago to make a change at HC and still have time to right the ship. Chayka brought Tocchet in and now most likely knows that it was a mistake. He was not, and has not to date been willing to admit to that mistake and make the required change. It will be telling as to when Tocchet is let go. Immediately after the season is over or sometime in June.

I completely agree. The final week of January was absolutely the right time to have fired Tocchet. Laviolette was right there, and would have been and still is the perfect fit for this team. Chayka choked. This is his fault. I don't blame him for hiring Tocchet, I absolutely blame him for not firing Tocchet when we still had a chance to save the season.

The really annoying thing is that we ended up with Tocchet because they fired Tippett so late and there weren't good candidates. Waiting way too long to fire Tippett is what got us in this Tocchet mess. And now here we go again, learning the same less all over again. It's really inexcusable. Chayka has already made this same exact mistake once. He needs to be held accountable. I'm not exactly calling for him to be fired, but if he is fired, it's completely justifiable. He failed to take action.

Additionally, because he failed to fire Tocchet, and because the team is now destined to miss the playoffs, we can forget any hope of Taylor Hall re-signing. So Chayka's failure to fire Tocchet led to his needing to trade Hall. He also failed to do that. So now we will be losing a 1st, Bahl, Merkley, Schnarr and a 3rd for absolutely nothing. Once again, inexcusable.

When this summer it finally dawns on all of us, and sinks in for real, that we once again didn't make the playoffs, that we just missed our opportunity to select a young player in the first round of the draft, and the TSN insiders are announcing Taylor Hall's new contract with Colorado or Calgary, I think many of us will realize that Chayka's failure to fire Tocchet, followed by his failure to trade Taylor Hall at the deadline has put us in what will be an absolutely awful, disgusting position.

Come July 1st, I don't know how anyone will be able to defend Chayka.

 

[XX]

The really annoying thing is that we ended up with Tocchet because they fired Tippett so late and there weren't good candidates. Waiting way too long to fire Tippett is what got us in this Tocchet mess. And now here we go again, learning the same less all over again. It's really inexcusable. Chayka has already made this same exact mistake once. He needs to be held accountable. I'm not exactly calling for him to be fired, but if he is fired, it's completely justifiable. He failed to take action.

That was delayed because of Barroway becoming majority owner and the league needing to negotiate an exit for Tippett that wasn't a PR nightmare. Chayka made several big ass trades shortly thereafter because he assumed full control. Tippett was technically above Chayka prior to Barroway.

Additionally, because he failed to fire Tocchet, and because the team is now destined to miss the playoffs, we can forget any hope of Taylor Hall re-signing. So Chayka's failure to fire Tocchet led to his needing to trade Hall. He also failed to do that. So now we will be losing a 1st, Bahl, Merkley, Schnarr and a 3rd for absolutely nothing. Once again, inexcusable.

They were in 1st at the time. That's a mid to late first and Bahl, who is a B prospect they don't seem super enamored with. It was a sound decision at the time. You are retroactively criticizing someone for something that couldn't really have been foreseen, and something that did not represent an egregious amount of risk. Managers are paid to make sound decisions and that one was pretty sound.

If you want to criticize him for something, it should be Kessel. Every warning light on the panel was flashing red but he still went through with it (over Zucker no less).

We don't know if Chayka has any standing orders from Meruelo, or if they are on the same page in letting him play out the season. Don't confuse faith in a person with ignorance or bewilderment.

Come July 1st, I don't know how anyone will be able to defend Chayka.

I'll (probably) be your huckleberry. Hell, we've still got games to play. They could end up firing him in a few weeks and say publicly they thought he had a right to see out the season. That's something hires want to hear and I don't even really disagree.

 

[RemoAZ]

Problem is, like so many of the contracts he gave out, Chayka got an extension before earning it. So unless the owner wants to eat the extension not even started yet, we're stuck with Chayka. The way he's glowed about Tocchet and how he's been quoted as liking the direction of the team, I doubt there will be changes other than a few players with little impact. This team needed to draft a star when it was dismal for a decade. We didn't and now because we chased mediocrity, we probably won't have the chance to acquire a star until Matthews becomes a FA. Hopefully he's willing to take on the monumental task of making this franchise relevant.

 

[XX]

Problem is, like so many of the contracts he gave out, Chayka got an extension before earning it. So unless the owner wants to eat the extension not even started yet, we're stuck with Chayka.

Buffalo already tried to hire away Chayka once, they'd do it in a heartbeat. The contract extension was a formality. Tocchet will not go into next season on the last year of a deal either, so this will be addressed one way or another.

Tocchet is making him look really stupid and wasting his big trade. We'll see how things go once the heat is really on and blame needs to be placed.

 

[Jakey53]

Still don’t get why a GM, who trades the future fir Kessel and Hall, refuses to dump a crappy coach for a coach who is a proven winner. Is it about penny pinching?

To be fair, Gallant had superior talent in Florida and Vegas. Not sure if he is as good as some think, but he would be better than RT.

 

[rt]

That was delayed because of Barroway becoming majority owner and the league needing to negotiate an exit for Tippett that wasn't a PR nightmare. Chayka made several big ass trades shortly thereafter because he assumed full control. Tippett was technically above Chayka prior to Barroway.

This has nothing to do with my point. Chayka has seen firsthand the negative consequences of waiting too long to fire a coach. Doesn't matter who's fault it was that DT wasn't fired sooner. What matters is the had a crappy pool to choose from. This time it was Chayka's call to wait. Which given the context of the limited pool he had to draw from during his first opportunity to hire a coach, makes his reluctance to remove Tocchet and upgrade to Laviolette fairly indefensible. You know Tocchet should have been fired. You know that Laviolette is an upgrade. You know it's Chayka's fault this didn't happen in January. If we miss out on Laviolette, Gallant, and Boudreau, we have Chayka to blame for that. It's not Tocceht's fault he didn't get fired and replaced with a better coach. That's on Chayka. Period.

They were in 1st at the time. That's a mid to late first and Bahl, who is a B prospect they don't seem super enamored with. It was a sound decision at the time. You are retroactively criticizing someone for something that couldn't really have been foreseen, and something that did not represent an egregious amount of risk. Managers are paid to make sound decisions and that one was pretty sound.

You didn't read my post thoroughly. I supported the Hall acquisition. I still support the Hall acquisition. Trading for Hall, and giving up the pieces we gave up was smart and good and I'm glad we did it. Hall isn't going to re-sign here because we aren't making the playoffs. That was obvious at the trade deadline. Failing to trade Hall and recoup assets was a massive blunder. Terrible, terrible mistake on Chayka's part. Again, can't blame Tocchet for not trading Hall at the deadline. That's Chayka's fault. I can be pissed off that Chayka failed to trade Hall, and not be pissed off that he acquired him. Trading for Hall was smart. Hanging onto him at the deadline was stupid. Very stupid mistake by Chayka.

I do NOT blame Chayka for hiring Tocchet. I blame him for NOT firing him. I do NOT blame Chayka for acquiring Hall. I blame him for NOT trading him at the TDL.

I'll (probably) be your huckleberry. Hell, we've still got games to play. They could end up firing him in a few weeks and say publicly they thought he had a right to see out the season. That's something hires want to hear and I don't even really disagree.

This is bullshit. Chayka had time to salvage the season by firing Tocchet in January. Firing him in March is a cop out. I'll be relieved if they hire a better coach in March, but I'll still be pissed that Chayka didn't bother to try to save the season when he had the chance.

There is no defense for not firing Tocchet in the last days of January. There is no defense for failing to trade Hall at the deadline. Those two mistakes are 100% on Chayka.

 

[RemoAZ]

This has nothing to do with my point. Chayka has seen firsthand the negative consequences of waiting too long to fire a coach. Doesn't matter who's fault it was that DT wasn't fired sooner. What matters is the had a crappy pool to choose from. This time it was Chayka's call to wait. Which given the context of the limited pool he had to draw from during his first opportunity to hire a coach, makes his reluctance to remove Tocchet and upgrade to Laviolette fairly indefensible. You know Tocchet should have been fired. You know that Laviolette is an upgrade. You know it's Chayka's fault this didn't happen in January. If we miss out on Laviolette, Gallant, and Boudreau, we have Chayka to blame for that. It's not Tocceht's fault he didn't get fired and replaced with a better coach. That's on Chayka. Period.



You didn't read my post thoroughly. I supported the Hall acquisition. I still support the Hall acquisition. Trading for Hall, and giving up the pieces we gave up was smart and good and I'm glad we did it. Hall isn't going to re-sign here because we aren't making the playoffs. That was obvious at the trade deadline. Failing to trade Hall and recoup assets was a massive blunder. Terrible, terrible mistake on Chayka's part. Again, can't blame Tocchet for not trading Hall at the deadline. That's Chayka's fault. I can be pissed off that Chayka failed to trade Hall, and not be pissed off that he acquired him. Trading for Hall was smart. Hanging onto him at the deadline was stupid. Very stupid mistake by Chayka.

I do NOT blame Chayka for hiring Tocchet. I blame him for NOT firing him. I do NOT blame Chayka for acquiring Hall. I blame him for NOT trading him at the TDL.


This is bullshit. Chayka had time to salvage the season by firing Tocchet in January. Firing him in March is a cop out. I'll be relieved if they hire a better coach in March, but I'll still be pissed that Chayka didn't bother to try to save the season when he had the chance.

There is no defense for not firing Tocchet in the last days of January. There is no defense for failing to trade Hall at the deadline. Those two mistakes are 100% on Chayka.

One thing Chayka could do to kind of salvage the Hall trade, involve Hall in the conversation for a new coach IF he signs. If he has some input on who he thinks can help his game and turn them into a contender, that might be enough for him to stick around. Long shot but not sure what else they can do to convince him if he's on the fence.

 

[rt]

Hall is gone baby gone.

 

[XX]

This has nothing to do with my point. Chayka has seen firsthand the negative consequences of waiting too long to fire a coach. Doesn't matter who's fault it was that DT wasn't fired sooner. What matters is the had a crappy pool to choose from. This time it was Chayka's call to wait. Which given the context of the limited pool he had to draw from during his first opportunity to hire a coach, makes his reluctance to remove Tocchet and upgrade to Laviolette fairly indefensible.

If he fires him a week or two from now, the pool is not immensely worse. It actually gets better as junior/AHL/college seasons wind down. If candidates like Laviolette don't want to come here and/or are holding out for better opportunities with more money from other clubs, the end of the season is the time to hire. Midseason you're just doing the dance of the lemons. This year, there happen to be some talented candidates out there but that doesn't mean they want to come here.

Hall isn't going to re-sign here because we aren't making the playoffs. That was obvious at the trade deadline. Failing to trade Hall and recoup assets was a massive blunder.

It wasn't "obvious" in the casual sense at the trade deadline. They were playing marginally better, expected Kuemper back, and just trounced Tampa. Under no circumstances did Chayka have the cover to trade Hall, Hjalmarsson, Soderberg etc... If anything, the impetus should have been to add some depth, as it was going for record low prices this year. They lose that game, things are probably different. We both know it.

This is bullshit. Chayka had time to salvage the season by firing Tocchet in January. Firing him in March is a cop out. I'll be relieved if they hire a better coach in March, but I'll still be pissed that Chayka didn't bother to try to save the season when he had the chance.

You should cool your jets, because as much as you want Tocchet and Chayka gone, you don't know where Meruelo's head is at and he has the final say. We're talking about a GM who stuck by the coach during a nearly league record bad start, he's not going to pull the plug because a guy loses a string of games with a dinged up roster. If the guy cutting the checks says "Let him ride it out, then we'll talk", you don't really have any say at that point either. I'm as fed up with Tocchet as anybody but if top flight guys like Laviolette pass then your options are limited to internal rearrangement until the end of the year.

This whole spiel is based on a hypothetical that the strongest coaching candidates who will be in line for primo jobs would want to come to the Coyotes at the drop of a hat. It's not a sound argument. It's also a bit premature. The cover wasn't there to fire him early and neither was it there to have a firesale at the deadline.

The organization is not going to fire a coach after what is at that point one month of bad play without Kuemper and they're not going to pull the plug on the playoffs when the fans expect them and there's still a chance. Four or five points in either direction and this conversation is completely different. That's the margin we're dealing with here. The timing is incredibly shitty but it is what it is at this point.

What if they stick with both through the summer with no coaching changes? That would be fun. Still a possibility.

 

[rt]

If he fires him a week or two from now, the pool is not immensely worse. It actually gets better as junior/AHL/college seasons wind down. If candidates like Laviolette don't want to come here and/or are holding out for better opportunities with more money from other clubs, the end of the season is the time to hire. Midseason you're just doing the dance of the lemons. This year, there happen to be some talented candidates out there but that doesn't mean they want to come here.

1. The pool may not be worse but the season is lost, and could have been salvaged with quicker action. It was crystal clear in January that the team would go NOWHERE with Tocchet at the helm.

2. There is a zero percent chance that all three of Gallant, Laviolette, and Boudreau would decline to take over the Coyotes mid-season. I'm not even going to argue. It's impossible.

It wasn't "obvious" in the casual sense at the trade deadline. They were playing marginally better, expected Kuemper back, and just trounced Tampa. Under no circumstances did Chayka have the cover to trade Hall, Hjalmarsson, Soderberg etc... If anything, the impetus should have been to add some depth, as it was going for record low prices this year. They lose that game, things are probably different. We both know it.

I'm not talking about Hjalmarsson. I'm talking about Hall. And yes, it was absolutely clear that they were going to miss the playoffs even after the Tampa win. It has been clear from day one that Hall will not re-sign without a playoff birth. The loss to Florida isn't what shifted us from hopeful to hopeless. And who cares about the "casual sense"? You don't think Chayka bothered to run through some models on season outcomes? The Coyotes were lame ducks, artificially puffed up by loser points and extra games played.

If the Tampa game influenced Chayka in any way, he should be fired immediately as he's clearly an idiot.

You should cool your jets, because as much as you want Tocchet and Chayka gone, you don't know where Meruelo's head is at and he has the final say. We're talking about a GM who stuck by the coach during a nearly league record bad start, he's not going to pull the plug because a guy loses a string of games with a dinged up roster. If the guy cutting the checks says "Let him ride it out, then we'll talk", you don't really have any say at that point either. I'm as fed up with Tocchet as anybody but if top flight guys like Laviolette pass then your options are limited to internal rearrangement.

1. I haven't said I want Chayka gone. I'm extraordinarily pissed off and disappointed that he failed to address two extremely obvious situations in a way that has the potential to set the franchise back years. I'll say he's got two enormous strikes against him in my eyes right now. I have zero patience left for him. But I'm not lighting the torches and sharpening the pitch forks just yet.

2. "String of games"? Are you kidding me? Only Ottawa, Detroit and LA have been worse the last half of this season. If you want to call dozens of games in a row a "string" I guess that's okay, but it doesn't make any sense. Also, this team has no injury excuses. Injuries aren't the problem. The coaching staff and the leadership group of veterans in the locker room are the problem. And you know that's 100% true. You know Tocchet and his staff suck ass. You know that Kessel, Stepan, Goligoski and Demers are garbage "leaders". Those are the problems the team has (apart from the most obvious problem of not having a franchise center).

3. Meruelo didn't tell Chayka he can't fire Tocchet or recoup the Hall assets. That's bologna. Why even proffer this?

This whole spiel is based on a hypothetical that the strongest coaching candidates who will be in line for primo jobs would want to come to the Coyotes at the drop of a hat. It's not a sound argument. It's also a bit premature. The cover wasn't there to fire him early and neither was it there to have a firesale at the deadline.

The "cover"? Where do you think we are? This is Phoenix. Absolutely nobody cares here.

What if they stick with both through the summer with no coaching changes? That would be fun. Still a possibility.

Then they're idiots and should all be fired.

 

[rt]

The organization is not going to fire a coach after what is at that point one month of bad play without Kuemper and they're not going to pull the plug on the playoffs when the fans expect them and there's still a chance. Four or five points in either direction and this conversation is completely different. That's the margin we're dealing with here. The timing is incredibly shitty but it is what it is at this point.

Posted February 4th...

First 28 games this season:
15-9-4 (15 wins 13 losses)
.607P% = 99pt pace
5th in West in that span

Second 28 games this season:
12-13-3 (12 wins 16 losses)
.482P% = 79pt pace
10th in West in this span

It wasn't "a month" of bad games. They were trash for a very long time. He had tons of rope.

 

[rt]

I'd fire the entire staff assuming Laviolette would come here and had assistants in mind
I'd send Kessel home and tell him to seek a trade with another team through his agent
I'd waive Stepan and Goligoski even though they wouldn't be claimed. Purely symbolic.
I'd make stripping everyone of letters (apart from Hjalmarsson) a condition of taking the job

The summer would be way, way more interesting and meaningful.

I think they will just give Tocchet the rest of the year and then, if they miss, Chayka will look for a Keefe type, hopefully having learned that a 'good presentation' is not an indicator of tactical acumen or game management abilities.

February 2nd.

 

[rt]

Since Dec.1st (25 games) the Coyotes are have the 10th lowest P% in the NHL
Since Dec.17th (18 games) (Taylor Hall's debut) they have 7th lowest NHL P%
Since Dec.23rd (15 games) the Coyotes are have the 5th lowest P% in the NHL

Jan 31st post

 

[XX]

Posted February 4th...

It wasn't "a month" of bad games. They were trash for a very long time. He had tons of rope.

You wanted him gone the "last week of January". They went 6-8-2 after Kuemper went down and that's spotting you the two losses out of the All Star break. That's not grounds for termination for a 3rd year coach that had them first in the division and just lost a Vezina caliber goalie. You are emotionally whining about how the team didn't drop everything and immediately hire the best candidate available based on more information after that. Probably feels great, but it's not really reflective of the decision making process teams go through or what they were looking at at that time.

Only Gallant and Lavi were available at that point, by the way. Bruce had yet to be fired. If you want to seriously sit there and tell me that it's such an amazing honor to coach the Coyotes that those two guys (who will clearly get jobs next season, if they want them) would just commit to Arizona overnight then we really have nothing to talk about. Your entire argument is based on it and I don't agree.

I stand by what I said on the 2nd, because I'm not a GM dealing with an order of magnitude more information and pressure, as well as this:

I think they will just give Tocchet the rest of the year and then, if they miss, Chayka will look for a Keefe type, hopefully having learned that a 'good presentation' is not an indicator of tactical acumen or game management abilities.

Still seems likely to me. Might get a token early firing if they really fall flat, but the die is cast, as I said against Tampa.

 

[Matias Maccete]

I'll be shocked if Tocchet isn't our coach and our assistants are different next year. There will be quotes from Chayka and Tocchet about goalie injuries and unlucky poor seasons by basically every one of our scorers, along with a few puff pieces by our local journalists echoing the goalie injuries/down year excuses. Maybe we get a sacrificial goalie coach firing or something minor and stupid, but that's going to be it.

 

[rt]

I'll be shocked if Tocchet isn't our coach and our assistants are different next year. There will be quotes from Chayka and Tocchet about goalie injuries and unlucky poor seasons by basically every one of our scorers, along with a few puff pieces by our local journalists echoing the goalie injuries/down year excuses. Maybe we get a sacrificial goalie coach firing or something minor and stupid, but that's going to be it.

Chayka is about to have traded away two top ten draft picks (Stepan/Raanta and Hall) AND Dylan Strome in his relatively short tenure as GM. Hall will walk as a UFA this summer, we’ll probably have to pay assets to get somebody to take Stepan because he’s worth less than half of his caphit and we won’t be offering Antti Raanta another contract. Next season is the end of the road for him. Given that we won’t make the playoffs this year, it sure feels like we gave those picks up for nothing at all.