Multiple sources have confirmed that the Coyotes have fired Don Maloney.
Further to @RealKyper report on GM change in Arizona. High placed source says Don Maloney is out. Seemed to be ongoing power struggle there.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 11, 2016
Don Maloney did an overall fantastic job as the Coyotes GM since 2007. When you consider the politics, the constant distractions of the market, the lack of money, the ownership changes and everything else, really, what more could you ask of the guy?
He kept the team competitive during some times when being total garbage would have been excusable.
However, like many guys his age, the NHL game today seems to have passed him by. With the influx of statistical information that calls into question virtually all of the tried and true maxims of how to manage a hockey a team (everything about evaluating players, the types of players we value, the traits those players have, what roles to value on a hockey team etc. ) Maloney isn't the only one who's resistance to evolution has cost him his job.
Whether or not the "power struggle" alluded to above was over the application of analytic principles to the running of the hockey team, as I suspect it was (because Maloney hired an "analytics guy" John Chayka but didn't seem to listen to him), the fact is, Maloney's team building has looked antiquated in recent years compared say, the Leafs who are gaming the system for value, or the Kings who put such a premium on puck-possession, or the Penguins and Ducks who've gone with five or so "puck-moving" defensemen, just to name a few.
Compared to what the Leafs are doing in amassing draft picks, the Coyotes appear to be treading water. Make no mistake, the application of analtytic principles to a hockey team goes beyond just your strategy on the ice and your player evaluation: it's all about extracting value from every single part of the organization.
For this reason, I believe that firing Maloney was the right move.
But should the Coyotes keep Tippett?
I don't know. We know two things: 1. Tippett is a very successful, well liked and incredibly respected hall-of-fame worthy coach. 2. He got quite alot out of a team that should have been a shoe-in for 30th place.
So on that basis alone, he deserves a shot with the new management. (Will John Chayka, 26, be the new GM? I'd vote for him and give him an assistant who used to be a GM). However, one reservation I have is that I really believe the Coyotes could use a completely fresh start away from Maloney, Tippett, Smith, Vermette, even Doan.
But maybe that's stupid. Perhaps, clouded by my own biases, I just selfishly want a "fresh start" because it's more exciting when things have that "new" quality, even though I guess deep down we know that only lasts for five minutes.
So I'd be willing to keep Tippett. I talked at the start of this about failure to adapt and evolve with the new ways of how the league works. If you look at the most successful coaches - Quenneville, Babcock, Hitchcock, Daryl Sutter - they are all "old school" guys who've adapted to new ways of thinking. It's anecdotal and so maybe I'm full of crap and have fooled myself into believing this, but it appears that there is at least something to be said about a seasoned expert blending what he already knows to work with excellent new ideas being developed by others.
(This idea can, I think, be at least partially validated by the number of old school coaches who seem unable to adapt and are not doing so well: Carlyle, Wilson, Roy, Crawford).
There is no doubt that Tippett would be immediately hired if the Coyotes were to fire him, and there is also no reason to believe that if the Coyotes continue on with him while adopting a more analytical approach that he wouldn't be open to it. His current player usage doesn't seem to indicate that he is using this approach now, but given the roster, the amount of information we don't have, and the fact that things are never as black and white as we want them to be, he very well could already be doing so).
I say there really is nothing to lose here. The team was spinning it's wheels, it does have one of the best tacticians in hockey under its employ and at least five great-to-A+ prospects/young players already in the organization.
The arguments for keeping Tippett are very good. The arguments for getting rid of Maloney are insurmountable.
He did a good job, but the time is right. It's also nice that the team got right down to business on the first day of the off-season as well.
I look forward very much to what''s next.
The Coyotes are going to a pres conference now, and I'll come back on later with some news if any develops.
Thanks for reading.