Coyotes looking to the future through awful 2021-22 start

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes, by any measure, are off to an awful start.

It’s not just that they’re losing. Sometimes it’s by a lot. By three goals, four, occasionally more.

The Coyotes are last in scoring, last in goals allowed and could end up being one of the worst teams in NHL history.

Ugly, yes, but it’s all part of a bigger plan. Well, maybe not the blowout losses or potential for historical ineptitude. That was a bit of a surprise, exacerbated by injuries and one of the league’s toughest opening schedules.

But some tough times were expected before it gets better. Rebuilding projects can be tough to watch while the foundation is still trying to set.

“We had to look at it, are we making the playoffs if we go back and sign some free agents? Might be, might not be,” Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said. “We had to make the hard decision of looking in the mirror and saying, if we’re going to take a run the next five and try to become a championship organization, how do we do that?”

Armstrong was hired in September 2020 after the Coyotes had an acrimonious split with previous GM John Chayka. The upheaval occurred just before the team’s first postseason appearance in eight years, against Nashville in the NHL’s Edmonton pandemic playoff bubble.

The Coyotes managed to knock off the Predators, but were steamrolled by Colorado in consecutive 7-1 losses to bow out in five games.

Taking the advice of a fellow NHL general manager, Armstrong decided to wait a year before making big changes to see if the franchise could get headed back in the right direction or if it needed to switch tracks.

Little changed. The Coyotes were decent, yet came up just short of the playoffs, just as they had so many other seasons.

Something had to change, particularly with the team moving to the difficult Central Division.

All those seasons of trying to add a top-level free agent or bolstering the roster through trades wasn’t working. Fighting for a…