Will the Arizona Coyotes be the Worst Team in NHL History?

The Arizona Coyotes have been a complete disaster this year and sit dead last in the NHL with a record of 1-13-1 and a point percentage of .100. But the Coyotes could end up being historically bad, possibly the worst team in NHL history. The 1975 Washington Capitals had the worst regular season in history at 8-67-5 and a point percentage of .131. The Coyotes are on pace to beat that record of 6-70-6. Here is why the Coyotes are struggling so bad and if they will actually be able to become the worst team in NHL history.

Arizona completely blew it up this offseason, trading away most of their existing core to “start over”. The Coyotes traded away Darcy Kuemper, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Dvorak, Conor Garland and other notable players for picks and prospects to start up their rebuild. With that, the Coyotes went into the season with a weak lineup. On top of that, the Coyotes have sustained several injuries, making their team even worse.

Arizona Coyotes current lineup

Lawson Crouse – Johan Larsson – Phil Kessel

Loui Eriksson – Barrett Hayton – Alex Galchenyuk

Dmitrij Jaskin – Travis Boyd – Clayton Keller

Antoine Roussel – Jay Beagle – Liam O’Brien

Jakob Chychrun – Anton Stralman

Shayne Gostisbehere – Dysin Mayo

Kyle Capobianco – Ilya Lyubushkin

Karel Vejmelka

Scott Wedgewood

The Coyotes have been terrible at all aspects of the game so far this year. They rank dead last in goals for per game (1.53), last shots per game (25.2), first in goals allowed per game (3.93), third last in powerplay (12.5%), third last in penalty kill (65.2%), committed the most penalties (220 PIM) and second-last in save percentage (.879). 

The Coyotes are a total mess and could be even worse later in the season if they end up selling assets at the deadline such as Phil Kessel, Shayne Gostisbehere and more. There are some bright spots like Karel Vejmelka and Shayne Gostisbehere, but the rest of the team have been disappointing and it wouldn’t be a shock if they do end up being the worst team in NHL history.