New season dawns for Arizona Coyotes: What you need to know as the Tempe era begins

In a preseason unlike any other, the Arizona Coyotes have officially completed their audition process. Now begins the next chapter for the NHL team.

The Coyotes spent the entirety of the seven-game preseason on the road, shuttling around different parts of North America from Wichita to Tucson to Tulsa to Boise.

Even with the preseason tour concluded, the Coyotes will not see the comforts of home for a long time. As Mullett Arena on the Arizona State campus gears up to become the team’s new temporary home, the facility will not host the Coyotes until Oct. 28th.

Thursday’s season opener at Pittsburgh will begin the first of a six-game road trip.

Here are five things to know ahead of the 2022-23 season:

Physical play

Hard-hitting forwards Lawson Crouse and Liam O’Brien found ways to get under opponents’ skin last season, and the Coyotes have added even more gritty players at last season’s trade deadline and in the offseason.

From bringing in Nick Ritchie and rookie Jack McBain via trades at the deadline to acquiring Zack Kassian via trade at the NHL Draft, the Coyotes made it clear that the team is committed to becoming a physical threat. With the team’s average height at 6-foot-2, its size lends itself to hard-nosed play.

“It’s one of the biggest teams I’ve played on. Even some of the medium-sized guys, they play a lot bigger,” Ritchie said. “We’re going to be that kind of team that plays hard and is hard to play against and has a little bit of nastiness.”

Ritchie and Kassian have been heavy on the forecheck throughout the preseason and have ended up in the box for fighting. Both have set the tone that the team isn’t afraid to stand up for each other.

Veteran presence on a young team

If players like Crouse, Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller appear wise beyond their ages, it's because they've experienced a lot so far during their tenures with the team.

All three are signed to long-term deals and are age 26 or younger. So as the team trends younger, the three are expected to lead the way this season.

"I’ve been through some really good times here, some bad times. I have a lot of knowledge about the state of the game here," Crouse said. "I think I can use that to my advantage and we have a lot of young guys and new faces. If I can help them out and show them what it’s like here, I’m going to do that."

To help the team as they go through this transition, veteran forwards Nick Bjugstad and Kassian, and defenseman Patrik Nemeth, were acquired or signed in the offseason.

Different look on the blue line

With an impending trade involving defenseman Jakob Chychrun, the Coyotes will have to look to others to fill in gaps on the blue line.

Chychrun has been out the entirety of training camp with a wrist injury and his timeline to return is unknown. His absence has given a preview to what the defense will look like following his likely exit. Chychrun logged an average of 23 minutes on the ice last season, leading all defenseman, but Shayne Gostisbehere was right there to lead the defense following Chychrun's ankle injury.

Gostisbehere will likely be slotted into the left side with free agent signee Troy Stetcher. Stetcher and signee Josh Brown will add veteran presence in a group that will likely feature young players like J.J. Moser, Conor Timmins, Vladislav Kolyachonok, Dysin Mayo.

Keeping last season's mentality

The Coyotes started picking up substantial steam in the latter part of last season, winning five of their last seven.

Even with key offensive players like Keller and Crouse missing, the team found ways to win against playoff-bound teams. Although the preseason hadn't yielded wins for the team heading into the finale Saturday night against Vegas, at least four of the seven preseason games were decided between one goal.

“We want to be a hard, gritty team that comes to compete in your face hockey every single night when you come watch the Coyotes play," Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong said. "There’s some things internally when you come to practice, it’s how hard we practice and how hard we train and all the little things we do with detail that is part of our culture."

Can Coyotes stay healthy?

One of the biggest concerns heading into the new season is getting injuries under control.

Keller was slated to make his preseason debut on Friday after recovering from a broken femur in March, but was kept out of the lineup for precautionary reasons. He is still on track to be be on the ice to start the regular season.

The Coyotes also have been without Schmaltz, a consistent player down the stretch of last season. Schmaltz has been day-to-day with a lower-body injury since Sept. 30.

"When we get on the other side of those injuries, we think that will help our team make the next step," Armstrong said. "I’ve liked what I've seen in the young guys. There’s a lot of good players that are young on our squad that have played really well from Janis Moser to Dylan Guenther to Matias Maccelli. They’ve really played well in this preseason. It’s been exciting to see young kids play and push through."

Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or 602-647-4122. Follow her on Twitter @jennarortiz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes 2022-23: Five things to know as new season, era, begin