Maybe the Dallas Stars aren't the only team looking to make an immediate turnaround in 2017-18.
After a sixth-place finish in the seven-team Pacific Division, a seller's mindset at March's trade deadline and talk of a potential arena relocation, the Arizona Coyotes are suddenly serious about righting the ship and returning to the playoffs.
No one has come out and said so, but if there's one thing the Coyotes' early-offseason activity indicates, it's this: Arizona wants to win now.
What else would explain a also-ran sending two players to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson? Or a blue-liner of Hjalmarsson's caliber talking up a potential pairing with Oliver Ekman-Larsson? Or Arizona also unloading the seventh overall pick in last week's NHL Entry Draft to bring in Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan?
In a matter of about a week, the Coyotes went from a franchise figuring to mortgage vets for picks to one bent on reeling in proven talent. Now, with free agency still looming, they have a new goalie, a potential long-term center and a longtime D-man to anchor a revamped unit in front of the net.
And this is all amid about as chaotic a start to the offseason as any team could have had, let alone one desperately in need of a rebound.
Let's recap: The Coyotes got a new sole owner at the beginning of the month. They decided not to retain aging, albeit beloved, captain Shane Doan. They came out of the expansion draft and went into the entry draft without an official president of hockey operations. They shipped away starting goalie Mike Smith. And on June 22, roughly a year after handing him a five-year contract extension and additional front-office responsibilities, they parted ways with coach Dave Tippett.
Dan Bickley, of the Arizona Republic, painted a gloomy picture of it all before the Blackhawks and Rangers trades:
What a mess. This franchise has endured a gambling scandal, relocation rumors, bankruptcy hearings and a clown show at the top. Not coincidentally, their only playoff run in the Valley came at a time when they had no owner, when Gary Bettman was the ownership representative and GM Don Maloney came to work every morning with no boss in sight.
This all feels so wrong and foreboding, and it's not even rock bottom. Meanwhile, Coyotes' fans have gone from mourning the loss of Captain Coyote to bracing for the only disappointment left:
The day the moving vans show up in Glendale.
And yet, a few days later, here the Coyotes are with their shiny new parts, still without a coach but apparently with 2017-18 victories in mind.
It's too early, perhaps, to say whether the run of monumental in-house changes has directly influenced the team's apparent refocus on building an immediate contender.
Whoever is running the show, though, is doing it with the hopes of an instant comeback.
