The Coyotes Are Loading Up on Beef

If I asked you what NHL team you would consider to be a bunch of big bullies, what would you likely say?

The Philadelphia Flyers, who regularly get suspensions for vicious hits? The Anaheim Ducks, who won a Stanley Cup on the backs of thugs like Brad May? The Calgary Flames, a Mike Keenan team?

Well, how about the Phoenix Coyotes, who, as noted by Rob Webb of The Bleacher Report, have gone to great lengths this off-season to get bigger, meaner, and tougher.

First [the Coyotes] traded for Olli Jokinen, who is a great player that plays with a physical edge and will stick up for his teammates when needed.

Then they brought in Kurt Sauer. A big, hard hitting defenseman who also has a lot of skill.

Then they brought in the big tough guys, two of them actually: Brian McGrattan and Todd Fedoruk.

I'm not surprised at this turn of events, given the way Gretzky has always loved his tough guy buddies (McSorely, Semenko, Beukeboom).

The Phoenix Coyotes ranked seventh with 1193 penalty minutes last season, suggesting the Coyotes are a physical team. The funny thing is that Daniel Carcillo was responsible for 324 of those minutes, and only one other player, Nick Boynton, had more than 100. The rest of the Coyotes appeared to be fairly tame.

What should we expect from the Coyotes next season?

Daniel Carcillo - 23 fighting majors and 324 PIMs in just 57 games! The Coyotes probably want this guy to concentrate more on scoring, given that he put up a respectable 24 points in his rookie campaign.

Brian McGrattan - A pure thug, his PIM totals are actually quite low. Just 46 in 38 games last season. Of course, we know Ottawa always holds back its enforcers, and McGrattan might get a chance to actually throw a lot more bombs for the Coyotes.

Todd Fedoruk - "Fridge" doesn't fight nearly as much as he used to given that he has a big metal plate in his head from consecutive KO's. That said, he put up 139 PIM in 69 games last season, and is still a physical force that is hard to deal with.

Kurt Sauer - A big slab of beef at 6'4" 220lbs, Sauer actually doesn't fight very much, and averages less than a penalty minute per game. Sauer will provide size to the Coyotes' defense, but don't expect him to rack up 100+ PIMs.

Prognosis: The Coyotes ranked 24th in the NHL last year with a 80.7% PK success rate. Signing up aggressive players who take more penalties could backfire badly if the PK rate doesn't improve a whole lot. Part of the reason why the Coyotes did fairly well last season is that they were actually 7th best in shorthanded chances given. The high PIM totals were mainly due to fights, so the Coyotes didn't have to kill off as many penalties as their PIM's would indicate.

I don't see the Coyotes being quite the bunch of bullies that some other teams are, but they will certainly make their presence felt a lot more than last season, and give Phoenix fans more fights to watch.