At long last, the Arizona Coyotes’ 2023-24 season has arrived.
The team’s makeup is slightly different than one season ago, but plenty of familiar faces remain. Core skaters such as Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, Barrett Hayton, Matias Maccelli, J.J. Moser, and Juuso Valimaki have been joined by Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot, Logan Cooley, Matt Dumba, and Sean Durzi. The goalie tandem of Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram remains the same, as well.
In addition, some familiar faces have returned, as both forward Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Troy Stecher re-signed as free agents after being traded from the team at the 2023 Trade Deadline.
The result? A strong mix of old and new faces that is determined to play in meaningful games throughout the regular season.
“I love the energy of the group,” Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong said. “It’s a good combination of free agents, and we have some veteran guys on the team. We have some rookies coming in and playing with some energy. It’s really exciting to see this group come together.
“Let’s see what we can do.”
Keller looks to pick up right where he left off last season, where he tied the Coyotes’ single-season mark of 86 points, set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97. The 25-year-old played in all 82 games last season and finished as a finalist for the 2023 Masterton Trophy.