Follow @james_tanner123 Remember the glory days of November 22nd? I suppose that is technically a glory day, but it was the last time the Coyotes beat a team that wasn't the Oilers. Oh the good times had by all when the Coyotes defeated the Sharks in a shoot-out and we could all pretend the playoffs where still kind of, sort of a possibility.
You have to go back even farther, to November 14, to find a game in which the Coyotes beat a non-Oilers team in regulation. It was a desert mirage of a game and they beat the Canucks 5-0. God, weren't we such young, naive and hilarious kids back then?
This pathetic trip down memory lane serves a purpose: The NHL resumes after a three day break (it felt like longer; I usually check my hockey pool fifty-five times an hour, and I suddenly realized I have no other reason to even own a phone) and it's necessary to take stock of everybody's favorite desert locale franchise.
Let us be honest: the Coyotes might be the worst team in the NHL.
The Oilers are last with 21 points, then the Hurricanes with 24 and in third, your Arizona Coyotes with 28. But here's the thing: the Coyotes are 5-0 against Edmonton and if you do the math (even for people who "watch the games" it isn't hard) that puts the 'Yotes with 18 points against actual NHL competition. These 5 wins are the worst thing that could have happened to the team. If they could even have managed to lose 2 games to the Oilers, the Coyotes would be sitting tied with the Hurricanes and behind the Oilers.
It is absolutely essential that the Coyotes finish in the bottom two: The lottery is just for the top pick, so while there would only be a 20% chance that the team comes away with Connor McDavid, there is a super high chance that if they finish bottom two, that they get one of Eichel or McDavid. (Due to my excitement over embracing the losing, I forgot that if another team won the lottery and the Coyotes were 29th, they would be pushed back to picking third. There would be a 33% chance that one of the bottom two teams wins the lottery)
Now, no one in their right mind realistically wants to draft Jack Eichel over Connor McDavid, but he's a pretty good second prize - in 99% of NHL drafts, he'd be the first overall pick. He is probably good enough to play in the NHL today and he's the kind of player that speeds up a rebuild exponentially.
If they get McDavid, we might be witnessing a Mario Lemieux/Pittsburgh situation, which is a pretty spectacular thing to be able to hope for, because it could quite literally save the franchise. Now, if McDavid is a Lemieux, Gretzkey or Crosby, then Eichel is a Stamkos, Yzerman or Malkin and that's still pretty damn good.
But here's the thing: Given that the odds are fairly great that you get a franchise altering player by finishing 29th or worse, the Coyotes - who currently have a 0% chance of making the playoffs - need to actively tank.
That means they can't wait until the trade deadline to make moves. That means that Vermette, Yandle, Korpikoski, Erat, Doan, Smith, Hanzal - basically anyone without a weird hyphenated Swedish name or possible relation to Hamlet needs to be moved for whatever can be acquired.
Every game the Coyotes win from here on out is a loss. This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity here because 1) there is never two players this good available and 2) this is the last year that only the top pick is raffled off.
Don Maloney was characterized as the "most active GM" by Pierre Lebrun before the break. It is now time for old Donnie M to make his moves, I don't care whether or not he gets full value for guys or not, the team has a chance to secure a player you simply cannot acquire in a trade - and the competition will be stiff: Oilers, Hurricanes, don't forget the Sabres. Two of these teams are going too be disappointed.
It's time to throw in the towel.
And don't give me that crap about integrity and competitive spirit. There is nothing wrong with making a strategic move to help you in the future. Doesn't anyone play chess?