The Coyotes aren’t fooling themselves. They know a 17-9-3 finish to the season is good, but they also know it’s rendered meaningless when they stand with the third-worst record in the NHL (29-41-12) for the season.
Still, as Coyotes players cleaned out their lockers Monday morning at Gila River Arena, there was a consistent sense of optimism regarding the things to come for next season.
John Chayka, the team’s president of hockey operations and general manager, echoed that sentiment during his exit-day news conference.
“There’s a lot of optimism and a lot of reasons for optimism,” Chayka said.