Can Doan's Late Season Success Translate to Breakout Rookie Year in Utah?
Josh Doan Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
The history of the Coyotes started with a Doan, and so it must end with a Doan. Just seven years after Coyotes legend Shane Doan retired from a 21-season career with the franchise – including the 1996 relocation from Winnipeg – Josh Doan, his 22-year-old son, exploded onto the scene in Arizona. In what we now know were the final 11 games in Arizona for this iteration of the Coyotes, Josh scored five goals and tallied nine points.
It was in his NHL debut where Josh was the most electric of this stint when the Coyotes hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets on March. 26. With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, and with the puck behind the opposing goal, Doan stripped Columbus’ star blueliner, Zach Werenski, of possession right next to the crease, causing the puck to ricochet off of Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins. As the puck went spinning through the air, Doan whacked it with his backhand over Merzlikins’ left shoulder and into the net.
The exciting sequence for Doan’s first NHL goal sent Shane – who was appropriately up in the stands – into a frenzy of celebration and laughter at the sight of his son’s ridiculous goal.
If that wasn’t enough to add himself to the Doan legacy in Arizona, Josh scored what would end up being the game-winner by deflecting a shot from Matias Maccelli. With this, Doan made history, as the first (and seemingly the last) Coyotes player to score two goals in their NHL debut.
Doan kept producing through the rest of his short stint in the big leagues, but is it a sign of things to come or merely a blip on the radar?
Through his 11 games, Doan’s shooting percentage was a high 21.7 percent, and Doan has no problem putting the puck in the net either. As an AHL rookie this season, Doan netted 26 goals and 46 points in 62 games with the Tucson Roadrunners. In Tucson, Doan scored on 17.2 percent of his 151 shots, indicating that a higher shooting percentage might be the norm for him.
Beyond just goal-scoring, Doan was productive in other areas during his small NHL sample size. Despite playing only 12:19 per game, Doan put up a respectable 23 shots, keeping in mind over two shots per game is pretty good when your shifts are short and infrequent. Also notable, Doan was responsible in other areas of his game, with seven hits and seven blocks as well as nine takeaways compared to only one giveaway.
The reality is, the sample size is too small to draw any definitive conclusions about Doan’s NHL future, but what he has shown is promising. Doan will have the off-season to work on his game before he steps on the ice in Utah’s inaugural season in the NHL.
In Salt Lake City, there’s a good chance Doan will be a part of a surprising offensive force. This season, the Coyotes had an impressive six 20-goal scorers, a group that Doan could potentially join next season. Compare that to the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, who only had three players to score at least 20 goals. This doesn’t mean Utah is a Cup contender right off the bat, but it does show they already have a depth of offense that can contend with the league’s best.
Now consider that Utah has $40.5 million in projected cap space heading into their first season in the NHL and it looks like Doan might be fitting into a possible playoff contender. This is dependent on how that money gets spent, but even with several new deals to ink, the new team will still have plenty of funds to play with.
It’s rather fitting that the Coyotes franchise left Arizona with the emergence of another Doan, considering that the original Jets left Winnipeg in 1996 after Shane’s rookie season and relocated to Arizona. Next season, Josh Doan’s impact will be felt in Salt Lake City as he looks toward what might be his first full season in the big leagues, which will finally be a large enough sample size to prove his budding talent.