Darcy Kuemper, who has played in 84 out of a possible 172 games over the last two years, has been the NHL's best goalie in that time.
Last year, Kuemper had one of the 50 best seasons (in terms of save percentage) in NHL history (including only goalies who played a minimum of 50 games).
This year, he was propping up one of the worst teams in the league until he went down with a season ruining injury. But for the 29 games he did play, he was a Hart Trophy candidate.
The Coyotes had no choice but to sign Oliver Ekman Larson to the largest contract in franchise history, because up to time he signed it, he was probably the best player in franchise history. But he was also 27 and entering decline.
He hasn't been all that good since signing the deal.
The Coyotes bet on Keller, Chychrun, Schmaltz and Dvorak. Chychrun is paying off, Keller will pay off if he gets some puck-luck, and the other two are probably not going to work out. (Though you never know).
The good thing is that the contracts are probably movable if it comes to that, thus mitigating much of the risk. (Covid ramifications to the league's salary cap and subsequent roster movement not withstanding).
With Soderstrom and Hayton about to enter the NHL and (hopefully) have an impact on league minimum deals, the Coyotes have a nice little core of players that could turn them into a competitive team (though they need to run away from Rick Tocchet as fast as possible).
With Taylor Hall and Darcy Kuemper, the Coyotes have two elite players and a host of other guys who could potentially help the team compete.
It probably isn't enough to turn them into a perennial contender, but if Keller, Hayton, Soderstrom, Chychrun and Schmaltz work out, it could be.
The problem here is that the Coyotes have gone so far down the road of trying to contend (and they have the goalie that teams who most contenders would kill for) that they can't turn back now.
They're all-in and they've got to see it though.
So they have to sign Hall, even though signing Hall is probably a terrible mistake. Hall is 29 at the start of next season, and has a history of knee injuries and a lot of what makes him so good is his speed. He strikes me (in a completely unscientific way) as a player who could potentially age poorly.
Given the Coyotes situation, they have to do it, but given the history of signing similar players, it's a bad idea.
It would be worth it if they could win a Cup - or lets face it, even a playoff series would be pretty impressive at this point - but it's an extremely high risk proposition.
Still, hard to see another option for the Coyotes, barring the winning of the draft lottery.
Much like signing OEL, it's not so much the best move as it is a necessity.
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