After the exciting 3-2 overtime victory by the Arizona Coyotes, Head Coach/V.P of Hockey Operations Dave Tippett had to forego his post game press conference to evaluate who to cut from the team.
Read more on the Arizona Coyotes ->> Arizona Coyotes faced tough Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks in pre-sesaon contest
Playfair gives his analysis on the game
Jim Playfair, assistant coach filled in to advise the press what he thought about the victory tonight.
After tonight's contest some players stood out, and Playfair especially liked the performance of prospect Jakob Chychurn. He described his play as "steady and mature, while a fun kid to watch." He also mentioned that his outstanding play will cause some hard decisions to be made on roster spots.
Playfair, when asked about Chychurn, made it clear that he can play in the NHL, and not so much how many minutes he gets, but can he help you win? Other points were mentioned that if he does stay on the roster they have 10 games to evaluate him before making a decision on where he plays next.
He must fit in with the present players, and also continue to develop. This will determine where he will fit in down the road for this organization. Playfair said, "he's done everything consistently that allows us to look at him as a real solid player."
When asked about the process of reducing the roster Playfair said, "Yeah, I think we evaluate the separation on the competition, I mean a lot of these kids are playing against their peers in junior and college and so forth...what's really going to be tough telling is these next three games where we have more NHL players line up on both sides, and you really get to start to see the separation then."
Canadian road trip will tell all
The next evaluation will come with the Arizona Coyotes' road trip to visit the Vancouver Canucks on October 3rd, and then the Calgary Flames on October 5th. More NHL players will be playing in those games, allowing the coaching staff time to determine which direction to go with certain players.