Depth is ‘a powerful thing’: A Q&A with GM John Chayka on a strong, 3-1 road trip (original) (raw)

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Coyotes were hooting and howling as they entered the dressing room after a 3-2 shootout victory against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center here on Monday, Buffalo’s first home loss in six games this season.

The win, the Coyotes’ second straight in which they overcame a two-goal deficit, completed a 3-1 road trip that pushed their record to 7-3-1 and helped them climb within two points of the Pacific Division lead.

Conor Garland couldn’t hear the celebration so well because he had a handful of stitches and some residual blood inside his right ear after taking a puck to the head in the third period. Garland didn’t score off his head like he did last year, but there was another butt goal in Buffalo that Garland set up, and he scored a late first-period goal that sparked the Coyotes’ momentum, just as Nick Schmaltz’s late first-period goal did in a win in New Jersey on Friday.

“He’s a blood-and-guts type of guy,” coach Rick Tocchet said of his diminutive leading goal scorer. “He goes around the net.”

There was plenty to like about the Coyotes on this trip. They saved their best performance for the final game. They bounced back from a poorly played loss to the Islanders with two wins. They found ways to win two games in which they trailed, they re-established their withering forecheck and they ensured a fast start to the season while all but completing the first of two brutal opening months.

“It’s huge,” said Schmaltz, who scored the only goal of the shootout on Monday with his favorite backhand-to-forehand move and a shot to the low glove side. “We didn’t play our best games in the middle there but we found a way to get two points in New Jersey and six out of eight points is a pretty good trip.”

With the Coyotes having passed the 10-game mark of the season, we caught up with president of hockey operations John Chayka for a wide-ranging assessment of his team.

What is your overall evaluation of the team after 11 games?

It’s a small sample size so you try not to make too many assessments on smaller sample sizes but it’s starting to grow. I think for me, it’s more so just looking at the general attitude of the team and where their heads are.

Going into the season, I talked a lot to the guys about having a lot to prove on an individual player basis, as well as coaching and managing. We’re a motivated group and guys are trying to make their mark individually and as a team and so far that’s what I’ve seen and that’s a positive sign. That’s one of the things that can be a competitive advantage for us is that we feel we’ve got a lot to prove and a lot of people have a lot to prove.

It’s early, but the fast start has to feel better than what you witnessed the past two seasons, right?

Of course. The last couple of years here we’ve been chasing and it’s even harder when you chase so just to get some points certainly helps, but in order to make the playoffs, it’s about the long-run game. Depth is going to be tested and your ability to overcome adversity and things like that, but having said that, we’ve done some of that in the past and now it’s nice to get off to a good start and hopefully build off of it.

It’s a true team with the way it’s been built. I wouldn’t say there’s one or two guys that are carrying the team. It’s been a collective performance on most nights and the games we win, everyone’s kind of doing their part, pulling on the rope and contributing. I think that’s strength of our team. We’ve got good depth, forward depth, defensive depth, two goalies and everyone’s kind of enjoying playing for one another and I think that’s a powerful thing. Our team defense has been strong. Our goalies are a big part of that as well, but even our forward group with the way they’re playing and the details they have been playing with early has had a major hand in that success.

Are there areas that could still stand improvement?

I think we’ve been a pretty consistent group but every single night you want to be able to bring it — not just certain guys but the entire group clicking at its highest rate. I’d say there’s a number of individuals that continue to progress the right way and trend the right way but we still feel have a lot more to give. There have been some guys that have done well that you want to continue to see do well so I think that consistency piece is going to be a big part moving forward.

How would you evaluate Phil Kessel’s play?

Going into the season, we knew we had to have better offense. Phil hasn’t been putting up crazy numbers or anything like that but he has had the desired effect in terms of just when we need a big goal, or we need a big play or we need someone to settle things down or kind of lead the way offensively, he’s able to help do that for us.

He knew that he was an elite playmaker, too. If we look at the long term and variance starts to settle down, I think he’ll be a guy with a lot more points. He hasn’t connected as much as he probably hoped or we hoped but again the fundamental play has been good and hopefully that will continue.

What sort of impact has he had on others?

His play and his presence has allowed some other guys to kind of find their footing and start to contribute. Phil brings a sense of calm. We go the first two games of the season where we haven’t scored and most teams in the past we’ve had would be stressed or panicked and people would start feeling pressure. Phil’s been there. He’s been through the ups and downs of an NHL season and he can talk to our guys and just have a calming influence.

Phil also takes a lot of the spotlight and attention and focus of other teams and it allows other guys to play at their best. On any good team, you’ve got to have different points of attack. When there’s just one line contributing, it’s a good league with good coaches and there’s a lot of pre-scouting so if your goal is to shut one line down it’s a lot easier than if you have to shut down multiple lines down. We’ve got some young guys that are trying to find their footing so I think Phil helps with that whole process.

What is your view of your goalie tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta?

Every single night, those guys are giving us a chance to win and I think they’re both high-end goalies with elite skill levels and I think they’re both highly competitive guys who both have a lot of pride in helping us win and they’re both exceptional teammate so I think we’ve hit the jackpot in terms of the goaltending. I just view it as an asset. I see no issues whatsoever with having two guys like that. We’ve been through injuries in the past and you just never know. Only one can play at a time but we’re going to need them both to get where we want to get to. To have two guys like that is certainly a great luxury.

You signed four RFAs-to-be to long-term deals before their contracts expired. Let’s starts with Nick Schmaltz and Christian Dvorak. What is your assessment of their play?

With all of these guys that we signed to long-term deals, certainly the first 10 games aren’t what we are paying for and those 10 games don’t represent the peaks or primes of what they’re capable of doing, but having said that, with those two guys who are both young centers, putting them together for stretches has worked. It’s a lot for any young centerman to step in and take some hard minutes and be involved in the guts of the game and playing in all situations. I think putting them together kind of eased their loads in a lot of ways and they’ve had a lot of chemistry and synergy and that was what we were hoping.

Give credit to (Rick Tocchet) and his staff for putting the puzzle pieces together and finding that synergy. Obviously, they’re different players. Devo’s not the most dynamic player in the league but he’s a very smart, cerebral player who makes great plays and he’s always on the right side of pucks. He’s got a conscience out there and he’s always making sure that he’s doing the right things.

Schmaltz is that elusive, talented guy that we haven’t had in a long time. His talent level is elite and he’s one of those guys where from a production standpoint, the sky is probably the limit. I still think he’s just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of.

How is Jakob Chychrun progressing?

I think a lot of people across the league, ourselves included at times, forget just how young he still is and how tough it as that age and at that position to not just give you glimpses, but play consistently. Chych gives us great glimpses but to do it with stability and do it night in and night out, I think he is starting to do that. We all know what his skill set is and he puts in the work every single day to bring the most to the team that he can but there’s a process that goes along with being a young defenseman and I think as much as you’d love to skip it and just go right to the end stage, you’ve got to grow and you’ve got to go through the ups and downs. Through it all, he is taking a good approach.

Clayton Keller has one goal (an empty-netter) and seven assists. Any concerns?

Looking at his fundamental game, I think it’s much improved and I think he’s really driving offense. As much as Phil is helping creating offense, Clayton is creating offense himself and there’s lots of chances and opportunities on that line. At the end of day, they’ve got to produce and they know that and they’d like to produce; they’d like to score on their chances but I look at the quality chances and I look at what he’s been able to produce in the first 10 games and we’re able to say that if you can do that for 82 it’s going to be a very, very successful season for him.

Like any player, there are going to be ups and downs in the season. He’s still a very young player so it’s not unexpected, but my take on Clayton is he’s shown a lot of maturity and he’s solely focused on helping this team win. Everyone wants to judge the point production and his contract but what I know in seeing him every day is he’s the first guy on the ice, is usually one of the last to get off the ice, he’s in the gym, he’s focused on his recovery and he’s watching tape. He’s doing all the things that he needs to do to be a top player. Whether it’s the next 10 games or the 10 games after, we still have full confidence that he’s going to be a top player in this league so we’ve got to keep working with him and guiding him and surrounding him with good people and putting him in the best position to have success.

Do you think learning to play with Kessel has been an adjustment for Keller?

Phil is a Hall of Fame offensive player and I don’t think Clayton has had the luxury of playing with those types of guys in the past. It’s an adjustment but I think he’d say he’s happy to make the adjustment. You bring in new people and they take some time to mesh and find each other’s tendencies and what they’re used to doing. Having said that, Clayton is a hockey nerd and he’s watching everything and learning every day so I have no question that those two will be able to connect in the near future in a big way for us.

Vinnie Hinostroza hasn’t scored and has just two points. At what point does that become a concern?

Vinnie plays a tough role and we all know that, but what makes Vinnie special for us is he’s capable of taking that defensive role and still pushing the pace and still tilting the ice and still being a productive player. When he’s at his best, that’s what he’s capable of doing. I don’t think we have seen him at his best yet. That’s the bad news. The good news is the team has had success and it’s still early.

What makes Vinnie unique and what makes him a positive contributor for us is an ability in the past to take those tough assignments and take a lot of those D-zone starts and be able to end up in the offensive zone with scoring chances and driving play. Not every player can do that. He’s a guy that can. It hasn’t been his best yet but when Toc puts together his lineup that’s his mindset. I think he’s got to get his game on track but he is certainly trending in the right way.

Are you content with how your blue line has managed the loss of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jordan Oesterle?

Hammer is a unique guy. When we went through the different iterations in the summer of “what if,” he’s a guy where there’s not really anyone that can replace him. There’s very few guys in the league who can; probably a handful that are like that him so you know then that you’ve got to become a bit of a different team.

Our D are very active right now. Phil Housley’s got them very involved in the offense so you try to do your best and manage. Every team is going to have injuries and Nick’s loss certainly hurts both on and off the ice, but I think one of our competitive advantages is we have a number of guys that can play in the top four. Right now we’ve got four of them. At one point, we probably had five or six. We’ve been able to sustain here.

Has Housley brought what you expected?

I’m really impressed. We had a really good group last year on the back end so any time you make a change there is always uncertainty but he’s come in and made his mark in a positive way. I think we’ve seen some of the best hockey of Alex Goligoski’s Coyotes career and Jason Demers has played extremely well and been very consistent. I think Phil has really dialed those guys in and is helping them out and OEL is starting to get going. If that group can hit their ceilings, obviously they’ve got a high ceiling as a group.

We’ve heard from Steve Sullivan on the topic of Barrett Hayton’s development. What is your take on that plan?

We’ve brought talented young players into this organization in the past and in a lot of ways out of necessity. We have rushed them or maybe put them in a position where maybe it wasn’t the best possible position. You don’t have a choice sometimes in pro sports, but I think the opportunity to develop Barrett in a winning environment and take things step by step to make sure he earns it every step of the way has been a good approach.

Every situation is different. This situation has got pros and cons as well, but I can’t say it’s any more difficult than throwing a young player into a high leverage role and seeing if he sinks or swims. And if they sink, you don’t really have an alternative. In this situation, we’ve got depth, we’ve got good forwards and no matter where is playing in the lineup he’s playing with a good solid line. He has played three really good games and has made an impact so it’s all positive from my end.

Obviously, he wants to play every single game but I would be more worried if I didn’t know how strong his mindset is and his approach to everything. I haven’t seen him take half a step back so for me things are going exceptionally well.

I know you are always looking to improve the team. Do you feel any desire to add to this group?

It’s too early. Everyone is taking calls and there’s a lot of discussions but I don’t think anyone’s got a lot of urgency to do much so without really knowing what the options are available to us I can’t really properly answer that. We have a core group of guys that we think are good, higher-end NHL players that are either in the prime of their careers or at an age where they want to make a push.

We’ve got a new owner here in Alex Meruelo who wants to be aggressive and wants to improve. As a management group, we’ll always be active and try to understand what the alternatives are and see what are the deficiencies of the team and how can we get better and try to push this thing even further, but I’ve always been a big believer that ultimately it comes down to what the group’s telling you with their play.

(Photo of Nick Schmaltz’s shootout game-winner in Buffalo: Timothy T. Ludwig / USA Today Sports)