The Coyotes have a star goalie and they have one of, if not the very best, groups of young defenseman in the NHL. They have some decent parts at forward - Hanzal, Boedker and Domi - but they lack talent up front.
In fact, outside of maybe Nashville and Buffalo, you would be hard-pressed to find a team with a bigger dearth of talent at forward then the Coyotes. The Coyotes were 20th in scoring this past season, but that was padded due to a high octane offensive start they were unable to maintain. They are a team that cannot score.
The Coyotes best prospect, Max Domi, is talented but it's not known whether he is a first line player. Certainly if they go into next year with Antoine Vermette as their de facto #1 centre again, then the playoffs are unlikely and I would opine that that would be a fireable offense for GM Don Maloney.
Now, getting a top centre is virtually impossible if you don't draft one high in the draft. It can happen otherwise, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. You just can't count on a Mats Sundin or Tyler Seguin being available in a trade normally, and it's even rarer to find a Getzlaf near the bottom of the first round.
Basically, the Coyotes have 3 choices:
1) Keep the status quo, hope Ribeiro rebounds, Domi excels and Hanzal finds a way to stay healthy. This is a scary-real possibility with rumours abounding that the Coyotes are not interested in being a cap team.
2) They could try to sign a veteran like Paul Stastny in UFA, but this is unlikely due to Colorado wanting to resign him and the fact that the contract he'll get if he changes teams will probably be an albatross, considering he is far more suited to being a second line centre on a contending team. Still, if they could land Stastny, with Domi coming and Hanzal, Vermette and Ribeiro still being on the roster, the team would lack a superstar #1 but the depth would suddenly be a lot better and a guy like Stastny would make an astronomical difference on this roster. Still, as a non-cap team this seems impossible, even if Stastny were willing to sign with the Coyotes.
3) They can get bold and compensate for their lack of spending prowess by securing the top player available in the draft. Florida seems likely to trade the pick and the Coyotes are STACKED in young defenseman.
In this scenario, suddenly it doesn't matter so much if they go into next season with Domi added to what they already have because a future combo of OEL and say, Sam Bennett, is something the team can build around and market for years and years.
Besides getting a top young potential super-star, the Coyotes would get tons of media coverage and would be able to market the hell out of an OEL/Bennett combo. This would go a LONG way in moving them out of last in the NHL for attendance.
The current Coyotes roster - with Smith, OEL, Yandle, a strong group of D and some decent non-first line parts on forward - gives them a real chance at developing into a perennial contender if they could accent what they currently have with a player who can possibly be "elite" and play centre. This could be the start of something special. Basically, I think they are that one upper echelon centre away from being one of the league's best up-and-coming teams.
Florida has said they are open to trading the pick. The Coyotes could offer a nice package: along with the 12th overall pick, they could add a player like Hanzal (who with Domi and Bennett may be expendable) and a player like Brandon Gormely or Connor Murphy. Hell, send them all three if that's what it takes.
I mean, look at the Rangers and Canadiens. One of them is going to the final and I don't think that the Coyotes are very far away from being as good as either of those teams right now, let alone with the addition of the number one overall pick. Basically, when you have one of the best goalies in hockey, anything can happen. If you also happen to have a top five defenseman and a number one overall pick, you don't even have to get that lucky to make it happen.
This is a team missing one key ingredient, and by offering up the top pick, the Panthers have put the Coyotes in a position to get it.
It's time for a bold move by this organization and the opportunity to make one has just opened up.