Arizona Coyotes’ starting goaltender Mike Smith has been red hot recently.
In fact, Smith has faced 35+ shots in three of his last four starts. In those same four games, has a .946 save percentage. Mike Smith has kept the Coyotes competitive.
But what has not kept the team competitive is the rest of the squad, particularly the defense.
The defense was meant to be improved this year and was the main focus of new GM John Chayka’s changes over the summer.
Chayka went out and signed Alex Goligoski, locked down Michael Stone and Connor Murphy to new contracts and furthermore added to the corps with an NHL-ready draft class in Jakob Chychrun and Anthony DeAngelo (whom was acquired from the Lightning in exchange for the Coyotes’ second round pick).