Arizona Coyotes: Tucson’s Proximity Paying Dividends

The Arizona Coyotes had a long distance relationship between NHL and AHL squads for years, but having their team only 120 miles away now will save the team grief in the future.

When a team struggles, the whole organization is constantly looking to improve and the Arizona Coyotes are no different.

They search waiver wires for ways to improve their lacking roster, pursue trade options or, in the nuclear option, tank and pursue better draft picks.

The Coyotes have tried all of these options.

And while this year’s team doesn’t feel any different than editions from the past four years, the final way to improve is to have a robust AHL team that can quickly rotate players between the major leagues and the triple-A farm team.

In the recent past, the Arizona Coyotes have had AHL affiliates in Maine and Massachusetts, which is not conducive to quickly recalling or assigning players for developmental stints. In fact, you could argue that the long distance travel not only negatively impacted the players making the trek from one side of the United States to the other, but the NHL and AHL teams as well.

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With players constantly moving and traveling due to reassignment, chemistry takes longer to take hold. Moreover, if the NHL team has an injury in practice or some other incident occurs on the day of a game, the ability to immediately replace that player is much harder when your affiliate is on the other side of the country.

Having a team in Tucson changes everything.

We have already seen that impact this season.

Early on, Christian Dvorak and Laurent Dauphin were rotated back and forth down the I-10. Anthony DeAngelo has spend some time being driven back and forth recently. And the success Tucson has had so far this season has made the move even more worthwhile.

Being that close to one another means that sending a talented player like Anthony Duclair to the minors for some work isn’t a crazy flight booking experience. And calling up short term injury stopgaps like Tyler Gaudet or Chris Mueller is just a two-hour drive away..

Next: 8 Questions For The Coyotes As The Trade Deadline Nears

The Arizona Coyotes are starting to build in the right direction and organizations who put their minor league teams within reach build a foundation for developmental success.

The Tucson Roadrunners will be one of the biggest reasons the Arizona Coyotes will make it back into the playoffs during the coming years, and a reason that could save the organization in the long run.