SB Nation - Maxim Goncharov

The Spotlight Is On... Coyotes Prospects Who Could Make the Jump: Defensemen

Brendan Porter — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:00:05 -0000

Last week we looked at some of the best Phoenix Coyotes prospects who could make an impact in the NHL this year. This week we will look at the Coyotes defensive corps. When it comes to blueliners, the 'Yotes have one of the deepest pools of talent in the NHL, but with the 1st-5th defensemen largely settled, there will be a lot of competition for the last two spots. Read on after the jump to see the favorites and dark horses to round out the Coyotes D in 2012-13...

The Favorites

David Schlemko - Schlemko is easily the most experienced of the defensemen fighting for a roster spot this year. Schlemko has seen significant NHL time in each of the past three seasons (17 games in 09-10, 43 games in 10-11, and 46 games in 11-12). During those games, Schlemko has also put up a respectable 30 points (6G, 24A) and had good chemistry with guys like Rostislav Klesla, the player he'd likely be paired up with on the 3rd pairing. His NHL proven game likely makes him the front runner for that 6th spot.

Chris Summers - Chris Summers has seen NHL action before: he played 2 games in 2010-11 and played an extended period of 21 games in 2011-12. Summers is a big guy who can play a very physical game on defense, but doesn't bring to the table the same offensive capability as his counterparts. Also working against him: the Coyotes coaching staff opted to go with Michael Stone down the stretch when he was available. He will likely be going into training camp with something to prove.

Michael Stone - Stone got his first NHL action towards the end of the 2011-12 season, and it was his performance then that put him up with the favorites instead of the dark horses. He was an impressive +7 with 3 points in 13 games, and was penciled into the line-up in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Kings, despite having not played since the Coyotes' regular season finale. Stone has clearly won over much of the Coyotes coaching staff; a strong training camp could earn him a permanent spot on the 23 man roster.

The Dark Horses

David Rundblad - Acquired from Ottawa in the trade for Kyle Turris, Rundblad plays like a less refined Keith Yandle. He has a lot of offensive ability but needs to improve on the defensive side of the puck. The Coyotes will almost certainly want to keep him down in Portland so he can continue to work on his game. At 21, he has plenty of time to get it right.

Brandon Gormley - Sarah McClellan of the Arizona Republic thinks Gormley is on the inside track to make the Coyotes roster this season, and it's easy to see why. The Coyotes 1st overall pick in 2010 has all the makings of a top pair defenseman, with excellent play-making skills, physicality, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to quarterback the power play. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gormley make his NHL debut sometime this season, but having only played 4 AHL games in his entire career the Coyotes may want to give him a little more time to get acclimated to professional hockey, especially given their already substantial depth on the blueline.

Maxim Goncharov - The Russian defenseman has been around the organization for a while, having been drafted in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He even managed to get called up to the Coyotes for a stretch early in the season, but only saw time in the press box before going back to Portland. Much like Summers, Goncharov is a hard-hitting defenseman who can cause havoc with opposing forecheckers, but doesn't have the same killer offensive instincts and has been known to cough up some bad turnovers.

The Verdict

Much like on offense, the Coyotes will probably only have two spots open, and one of those will likely only see sporadic action as the 7th defenseman. I think David Schlemko is in the best position to earn a more regular spot in the Coyotes line-up, and I believe Michael Stone will end up joining him to round out the blueline.

My projected defensive roster for the 2012-13 Phoenix Coyotes:

Michalek-Ekman-Larsson
Yandle-Morris
Klesla-Schlemko
Stone

Next week we will look at the Coyotes prospects in net and where they will likely end up to start the 2012-13 season.

Poll

Who will be the 6th defenseman for the Coyotes in 2012-13?

David Schlemko

39 votes

Chris Summers

4 votes

Michael Stone

14 votes

Other (Make your case in the comments section)

9 votes

66 votes | Poll has closed

Phoenix Coyotes Draft Day Review - Bringing Back Z

Jordan Ellel — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 06:05:40 -0000

Usually, the Phoenix Coyotes aren't making their first selection of the NHL Entry Draft terribly late in the round - even over the last few playoff years, the Coyotes have acquired fairly high picks that have allowed players like Brandon Gormley to join the system. This year the Coyotes were picking the latest they have since 2003 when the team didn't pick until the 71st overall pick in the 3rd round.

However, regardless of the late pick, it was what the Coyotes did even later than picking Henrik Samuelsson with the 27th pick that will have people buzzing in the morning. The Coyotes brought back fan favorite (or maybe just @Yotesgurl's favorite) d-man Zbynek Michalek from his two-year Pittsburgh holiday. The price tag for GMDM, prospects Harrison Ruopp (D) and Marc Cheverie (G) and the 81st pick in this year's draft (acquired from Philadelphia for the Ilya Bryzgalov rights). Not nearly the rumored Keith Yandle haul for the Pens, who are clearly just clearing cap space to make a run at Zach Parise after they also traded Jordan Staal earlier in the day.

What does this mean for the Coyotes - it means that they don't need to look to bring back Michal Rozsival to shore up the back end or if Adrian Aucoin wants to hang them up, the Coyotes can let that happen too. Z had a rough year in Pittsburgh battling some injuries, but he still led the team in shots blocked with 144. He's a steady stay-at-home and protect the house type of guy that can cover back for Yandle or Oliver Ekman-Larsson when they want to join the rush. He's still pretty young at 29 and he's signed for three more years at a fairly reasonable $4 million/season. It gives the Coyotes 7 d-men under contract and a pretty solid back end with Z, Yandle, OEL, Derek Morris, Rostislav Klesla, Michael Stone and David Schlemko. There are also plenty of prospects in the minors including the aforementioned Gormley and Maxim Goncharov.

As for Samuelsson, he grew up in Scottsdale and is the youngest son of former Coyotes associate coach Ulf Samuelsson. He's a big kid and while his skating will need to improve, he's considered a pretty solid forward prospect comparable to a Tomas Holmstrom-esque player. At 6-2, 211 he has pretty good size and hopefully can continue to develop his game while playing in Edmonton with the Oil Kings.

While it's not a complete overhaul of the team and the need for an offensive spark plug still exists, there's nothing to complain about through day 1 of the NHL draft in my eyes with the Samuelsson pick and bringing back a very talented, popular d-man in Michalek to shore up an already pretty solid blue line.

Coyotes Tracks - November 28, 2011 - Slow Moving Monday

Carl Putnam — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:29:48 -0000

The Coyotes travel to the Windy City today in preparation for their tussle with the Hawks on Tuesday evening. As usual Sunday was mainly filled with football news, both NFL and CFL. However, the Desert Dogs did make a move sending Maxim Goncharov back to Portland. In other NHL news, the Ducks sunk lower and this morning the Caps finally fired Bruce Boudreau. More news and details below.

Coyotes News

Phoenix Coyotes' Daymond Langkow makes valuable contribution - The Arizona Republic
The center returned to the lineup on Saturday after being out for an extended period due to the death of his mother.

Coyotes Assign Goncharov to AHL - Phoenix Coyotes - News
Maxim never got to play during his call up.

More links after the jump...

News From Around the Hockey World

Four Game Road Trip Ends With A Win - Leafs: 5, Ducks: 2 - Pension Plan Puppets
The Ducks drop another game.

Caps Tab Hunter to Replace Boudreau - Dump 'n Chase
The Caps fire Bruce Boudreau, but keep all of his assistants.

Capitals Fire Bruce Boudreau - Japers' Rink
J.P. takes a look back and wishes BB good luck.

Will Jarome Iginla get traded? That’s entirely up to him - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Check out Timmy's Fanpost.

Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: With no hard feelings | StarTribune.com
Kent Hitchcock talks about the Wild coaching gig and how Mike Yeo reminds him of himself.

The Final Howl

Sharks face Kings in a battle that's lost some shine - Fear The Fin
Big Pacific division matchup this evening.

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Phoenix Coyotes Ups and Downs: Getting Back in the Groove

Jordan Ellel — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:00:57 -0000

It may be a bit early to be looking at how everyone is doing this year, but why should that stop us. Back by popular demand (ok, back because I like writing them and it's a good way to check in with how the team and players are performing each week). For those new to the site, or that have forgotten how this works, we'll look at each player on the Phoenix Coyotes roster and determine whether they are trending up, trending down or staying in neutral.

Of course, the first week is kind of the baseline, so we're really looking right now at whether players have performed well, poorly or been generally not noticeable. The one exception, well...keep reading after the jump to find out.

And here we go:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jason LaBarbera		Hard to really say much of anything about Barbs as he has just been sitting on the bench so far this year. He's going to get his shot in net (possibly tonight against Nashville) and we'll be keeping a close eye on how he looks and whether he is taking puck handling lessons from Smith.
Mike Smith		Smith has had a bit of a rough start to his career in Phoenix. First, he gets shellacked against San Jose, facing 52 shots while performing admirably even if one or two he'd probably like back. Then he plays an almost perfect game against Dallas before giving up a last minute deflection goal and then losing in the shootout. Not sure how anyone can be lamenting his first two starts as there was plenty to be encouraged about.

Defensemen
Adrian Aucoin		Might be a bit unfair considering that nobody on the Coyotes is currently a positive player (since they have yet to score a 5-on-5 goal), but Oakie is -3 and has taken two minor penalties in two games. He's still playing a ton of minutes though and doing a good job mentoring OEL out there.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson		It's been a nice start to the season for the young Swede as he's playing almost 20 minutes a night, scored a power play goal and has shown a willingness to both play cautious and physical. The maturity in his game from last year, combined with his raw talents are going to keep him in the top 6 throughout the year, I think.
Rostislav Klesla		It was really great to see Klesla drop the gloves after taking a few cross checks to the head in Dallas. Sure, he didn't fare well in the fight and it's not what I want to see him doing regularly, but I appreciate making it clear that this team is going to defend itself out there. He's a -2 on the season, though, and that has me feeling pretty neutral on him so far.
Derek Morris		I'm not sure anyone had more issues out there in San Jose and Dallas, taking 3 minor penalties, a -2 on the ice and his penalty kill play wasn't superb either. He did look a bit better in Dallas, but he's not doing any favors for Yandle out there right now.
Michal Rozsival		Ouch...just ouch. When there's blood on the ice, it's never a good thing. When it's on the ice because you took a deflected shot to the face...ugh. Hopefully Rozy will be back on the ice soon.
David Schlemko		Although, if Rozsival is out for extended period of time, Schlemko looked right at home in Dallas. Solid defensive zone play, good pinches keeping the puck in the offensive zone and good efforts on the power play.
Chris Summers		Kid is the first called up from Portland this year, so that should be worth something, right? Not sure he's going to see the ice, but that he is ahead of Brandon Gormley and Maxim Goncharov on the depth chart is something.
Keith Yandle		Yandle is picking up right where he left off, with a pair of assists in the first two games. He's getting increased ice time and part of that is coming on the penalty kill where he's still learning what his role will be. I have no doubt that as with his other play, it will just improve with time.

Forwards
Paul Bissonnette		Only got in to the first game against San Jose and saw the ice for just 5:29 so it's hard to make much of a call on how BizNasty is playing out there just yet. With how good the Torres-Noki-O'Sullivan looked in Dallas, Biz may be staying in the press box for a few more nights.
Mikkel Boedker		Boedker had an assist this week and was a -1, but I noticed him forcing the play into the offensive zone while still playing solid on the back check. He's only getting 10 minutes of ice time per game and I think we will see that number increasing soon.
Kyle Chipchura		Well, I'm not sure I really noticed Chipchura out there, and clearly he didn't do much to impress as the team placed him on waivers last night according to TSN.
Shane Doan		2 goals, 1 assist, a few penalties for just hitting guys really hard? Yeah, I'd say Captain Coyote is not feeling any bit slower now that he's turned 35. He's killing penalties, playing the point on the top power play unit - yeah, he's been the best Coyote so far.
Boyd Gordon		Gordon was brought in primarily to win face-offs, particularly in tough spots on the ice. So far, he's winning 53.8% of his faceoffs. He's also looked great on the penalty kill, so I'd say this has been a good pick-up to replace Vernon Fiddler.
Martin Hanzal		Fresh off his 5-year extension, Hanzal is playing over 22 minutes per night, getting into the dirty areas on the power play, killing penalties and generally playing the type of solid game that we are used to seeing from him.
Lauri Korpikoski		Korpedo has shown some flashes, but I'm not sure that he's quite found a fit with his new linemates. While he is still getting penalty kill time and I've seen him out there on the power play as well. We will just have to see if he can start putting some pucks in the net or some assists up as the offense gets settled.
Daymond Langkow		Have been enjoying watching the chemistry between Langkow, Doan and Whitney develop so far. They have consistently been the best unit for the Coyotes and with Langkow winning 55.9% of his faceoffs, he's helping the Coyotes control play when he's on the ice. Had an assist this past week and I'd expect that we're going to see a bunch more as they get going.
Petteri Nokelainen		Noki was a scratch in the first game and only had about 9 minutes of ice time in Dallas, but he looked quick out there and played a pretty solid game, if unremarkable.
Patrick O'Sullivan		After a great camp, it was a bit surprising that POS was on the bench for opening night. I thought he looked solid in Dallas even if he only played 11:40 and only recorded a single shot. He can be a wild card for this team and it would be nice to see him start to show the spark he showed in the preseason.
Taylor Pyatt		Pyatt is filling the wing position with Hanzal and Vrbata this year and I'm not sure it's the best use of Pyatt. He's best when he's driving to the net and putting the garbage in, but Hanzal also plays that role on the unit. It might work better pairing him with Boedker and POS and letting him play the game that he did so well with Fiddler and Korpi last year.
Raffi Torres		A gritty, if fairly unspectacular few games for Torres, who is only getting about 10 minutes of ice time per night and is a -1. But he hasn't taken a penalty, or made a questionable hit or any of a number of things that concerned people about Torres, so that's good, right?
Kyle Turris		Yeah, he hasn't played and he's not even under contract, but has anyone (save Blake Wheeler) done more to piss off this fanbase by just being disinterested in being here? I still think Turris is too good an asset to give up for nothing, but I'm just not understanding what is going on with this situation at all.
Radim Vrbata		Vrbata had the lone goal in Dallas (although he was stopped on his patented shootout move later in the game) and had an assist in San Jose. In two games, Vrby has 7 shots which is what I want to see for the entire season.
Ray Whitney		The Wizard just seems ageless out there controlling the play on the power play (which looks much improved) and creating solid scoring opportunities on his line with Doan and Langkow.

Coyotes Tracks - August 23, 2011 - Tuesday Tracks

Ben Shroyer — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:52:33 -0000

As we move closer and closer to the season things are slowly starting to pick back up around here.

Coyotes News

GM Don Maloney on 'Yotes Expectations Video - NHL VideoCenter - Phoenix Coyotes
GMDM talks about the upcoming season.

Coyotes' success hinges on new goaltending duo - NHL.com - 30 in 30
Tal Pinchevsky previews the 2011-2012 Desert Dogs.

Battle of the Blades - Blog - And the Season 3 Competitors Are... - CBC
3 former Coyotes are going to be featured this season.

Welcome To The Russian Dog Rodeo | Yotesgurl Presents…..
Yotesgurl's latest victim err prospect choice is Maxim Goncharov.

2011-12 Single Game Tickets Go On Sale On Aug. 23 - Phoenix Coyotes - News
Buy your tickets this morning if you haven't already gotten tickets through a plan.

Daria Themed NHL Previews- The Phoenix Coyotes | August
A Coyotes season preview filled with 90's grungy angst.

Ideas for Coyotes broadcasts - Five For Howling
Comment on what you would like to see.

More links after the jump...

News From Around the Hockey World

New Looks for a New Season - Blog - icethetics.info
For jersey fans...

Better Safe Than Sorry? - The LeafsNation
NHL GM's aversion to making deals.

Caps, hockey fan Marshall help school bearing his father’s name - 2011 Offseason News
Something about Thurgood Marshall you won't find in history books or the recent play about his life.

The Final Howl

Current Affairs With David Shoalts - GregDunaway.com
Feel the love.

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