"We're a resilient group, play hard consistently," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said. "Defended well; we were a top-five goals-against team (2.68 goals-against per game, tied for fifth). I think when you're trying to build a foundation those are the things you're hoping to generate, build that culture that people are taking about a lot."
The Coyotes failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, four points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, largely because they were tied for 28th in the NHL with 209 goals scored.
They did not have a 20-goal scorer -- forwards Alex Galchenyuk and Brad Richardson each had 19 -- and forward Clayton Keller led Arizona with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists). Forward Nick Schmaltz, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in a trade on Nov. 25, had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 17 games with the Coyotes but he didn't play after Dec. 30 because of a lower-body injury.
"Lot of injuries, a young amount of forwards who need to produce more offensively, but we've got a good base to build from and I'm excited to build off that," Chayka said.
In a wide-ranging interview with NHL.com, Chayka discussed his offseason wish list, what young players potentially could play for the Coyotes next season and the status of goalie Antti Raanta.
How active do you plan on being this offseason? Do you envision action in free agency or the trade market?
"It's my nature to explore everything, every avenue, in terms of what we feel really adds value to the group. I'm not going to pursue things that are redundant or create negative value. I've looked at everything, namely the trade route at this stage, and we know about the free agent pool potentially and we'll see where that gets to as we evolve through the offseason. But I can't say there's one area or another that we'll be shopping in."
Do you have an offseason wish list of areas you need to improve?
"We need to score more goals. How much of that is going to be internal, how much of that we're going to have to go out and find, still working through that. What's the impact of some of our injuries? What's the impact of some of our kids growing and evolving? Those are the big questions. I think obviously if we can add to our forward group that would be something we'd be looking to do. But at the same time the right opportunity has to present itself and we'll execute on it."
How much better will you be offensively having a healthy Nick Schmaltz for a full season?
"Nick's a centerman that can skate, make plays through the middle of the ice, carry pucks, transport pucks, elite at gaining zones, on the power play on the half wall, those are all areas that basically, if you look at our deficiencies, he directly addresses them. To have him healthy for a full season, training camp with our staff, all those things, I think it could be a big year for him."
