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Dylan Strome Deserves Better Linemates and Ice Time before Being Scratched

November 20, 2018, 3:46 PM ET [27 Comments]
James Tanner
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The Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet clearly doesn't trust Dylan Strome.

He doesn't play him enough, and he doesn't play him in positions to succeed when he does. Strome has put up pretty good NHL numbers and while he makes mistakes like every rookie does, I think he's earned an extended look with lots of ice time and the best players on the team.

The coach does not agree. Despite finishing last year with eight points in his final nine games, and finishing the year with the best p/60 rating on the team, Strome wouldn't even have made the team is Christian Dvorak was healthy this year.


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In his column for the Athletic today Craig Morgan suggested that it was possible Strome could be traded:

Dylan Strome: If Dvorak were healthy, it’s hard to figure out where Strome would be playing right now. While it maddens fans that Strome doesn’t play with more skill, it’s clear that Tocchet does not trust him enough to play him in those extended minutes just yet.


Now, with the full possibility that I could be wrong, I do not agree with the coach about Dylan Strome.

The Coyotes should be wary of this situation. Anthony Duclair and Max Domi really struggled under Rick Tocchet and now they are flourishing elsewhere.

The Duclair situation especially reminds me of Strome's because he was skilled, he put up solid numbers, and the coach wouldn't play him. Now he's having the success those numbers suggested he would have, and the Coyotes are out a potential top six forward.

The Domi thing, Is what it is. He's scoring a ton, but I think Galchenyuk will be the better player long term.

When it comes to Strome maybe the coach knows best, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Here are the stats I listed the other day. I think they make a rock-solid argument that Dylan Strome is a quality NHL player who should not be scratched by a team several points out of the playoffs.


Dylan Strome is fifth on the Coyotes with a 52.46% possession rating.

His Shots-against per hour is the lowest of the team's forwards.

His on-ice shooting percentage is 3.19% and that's for everyone on the ice with him, not just him. It should be somewhere around 10, and it's at three. That is a function of luck, because not even bad linemates should shoot three percent.

He's also only getting 11 minutes of 5v5 game for this bad luck to work itself out.

His 4.53 points per 60 on the PP is fourth on the team, and only a couple of tenths of a percentage point from being second on the team.


Strome has gotten more shots per minute this year (individiual 5v5) than Keller or Galcheyuk. It's hardly his fault he has a zero shooting percentage.

It's ridiculous for a team to punish a player when his on-ice shooting percentage is 3%. That is less than half of what literally all NHL players can expect their on-ice shooting percentage to be. It's a total fluke.

And if he had a normal shooting percentage he'd score more and he'd play more.

His most common linemates are Nick Cousins and Lawson Crouse whose career high in goals are 12 and 5 respectively.

So to sum up, the Coyotes are apparently souring on a player who has put up some of the best stats on their team despite bad ice time and bad linemates. This player is the only conceivable chance the organization has at a number-one centre and has the highest ceiling of any player in the organization.

And the Coyotes aren't going to win or lose the Stanley Cup on whether or not the coach can grind out a few extra points with a veteran lineup. The long term success of the franchise is best served by giving Dylan Strome 20 minutes per night alongside players like Galchenyuk or Keller.

Otherwise, some smarter team willing to look at the stats is going to scoop him up at half price and get themselves a pretty good player.
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