2020–21 Arizona Coyotes season

2020–21 Arizona Coyotes
Division	5th West
2020–21 record	24–26–6
Home record	12–12–4
Road record	12–14–2
Goals for	153
Goals against	176
Team information
General manager	Bill Armstrong
Coach	Rick Tocchet
Captain	Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Alternate captains	Derick Brassard Niklas Hjalmarsson Phil Kessel
Arena	Gila River Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) Rapid City Rush (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Phil Kessel (20)
Assists	Conor Garland (27)
Points	Phil Kessel (43)
Penalty minutes	Lawson Crouse (46)
Plus/minus	Victor Soderstrom ( 4)
Wins	Darcy Kuemper (10)
Goals against average	Darcy Kuemper (2.56)

The 2020–21 Arizona Coyotes season was the 42nd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 22, 1979, the 25th season since the franchise relocated from Winnipeg following the 1995–96 NHL season, and the 49th overall, including the World Hockey Association years. This would have been the final year of the Coyotes being in the Pacific Division in the 2020–21 season before the new NHL expansion team the Seattle Kraken enters into the Pacific Division in the 2021–22 NHL season. However, on December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Coyotes played this season in the West Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.

On May 5, 2021, the Coyotes were eliminated from playoff contention after a 4–2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

Standings

Divisional standings

West Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	56	39	13	4	35	197	133	64	82
2	x – Vegas Golden Knights	56	40	14	2	30	191	124	67	82
3	x – Minnesota Wild	56	35	16	5	27	181	160	21	75
4	x – St. Louis Blues	56	27	20	9	19	169	170	−1	63
5	e – Arizona Coyotes	56	24	26	6	19	153	176	−23	54
6	e – Los Angeles Kings	56	21	28	7	19	143	170	−27	49
7	e – San Jose Sharks	56	21	28	7	15	151	199	−48	49
8	e – Anaheim Ducks	56	17	30	9	11	126	179	−53	43

Source: National Hockey League
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
e – Eliminated from playoff contention; p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was announced on December 23, 2020.

2020–21 game log
January: 3–4–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 San Jose 4–3 Arizona SO Kuemper 2,274 0–0–1 1 2 January 16 San Jose 3–5 Arizona Raanta 2,384 1–0–1 3 3 January 18 Arizona 2–4 Vegas Kuemper 0 1–1–1 3 4 January 20 Arizona 2–5 Vegas Kuemper 0 1–2–1 3 5 January 22 Vegas 2–5 Arizona Kuemper 2,712 2–2–1 5 6 January 24 Vegas 1–0 Arizona Kuemper 2,672 2–3–1 5 7 January 26 Anaheim 1–0 Arizona Kuemper 1,808 2–4–1 5 8 January 28 Anaheim 2–3 Arizona Kuemper 2,252 3–4–1 7
February: 6–5–2 (Home: 3–4–2 ; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 9 February 2 Arizona 3–4 St. Louis Kuemper 1,400 3–5–1 7 10 February 4 Arizona 4–3 St. Louis Raanta — 4–5–1 9 — February 6 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 16. 11 February 6 Arizona 3–1 St. Louis Kuemper — 5–5–1 11 — February 7 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 14. 12 February 8 Arizona 4–3 St. Louis SO Kuemper — 6–5–1 13 — February 9 Arizona – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 31. — February 11 Arizona – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 12. 13 February 12 St. Louis 4–1 Arizona Kuemper 2,457 6–6–1 13 14 February 13 St. Louis 5–4 Arizona OT Raanta 3,237 6–6–2 14 15 February 15 St. Louis 0–1 Arizona Kuemper 2,554 7–6–2 16 16 February 18 Los Angeles 3–2 Arizona SO Kuemper 2,281 7–6–3 17 17 February 20 Los Angeles 4–2 Arizona Kuemper 3,187 7–7–3 17 18 February 22 Anaheim 3–4 Arizona Kuemper 2,346 8–7–3 19 19 February 24 Anaheim 3–4 Arizona SO Hill 2,319 9–7–3 21 20 February 26 Colorado 3–2 Arizona Hill 2,495 9–8–3 21 21 February 27 Colorado 6–2 Arizona Raanta 3,224 9–9–3 21
March: 7–6–2 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 3–4–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 22 March 3 Arizona 3–2 Los Angeles Raanta 0 10–9–3 23 23 March 5 Minnesota 5–1 Arizona Raanta 2,541 10–10–3 23 24 March 6 Minnesota 2–5 Arizona Kuemper 3,141 11–10–3 25 25 March 8 Arizona 3–2 Colorado Raanta 0 12–10–3 27 26 March 10 Arizona 1–2 Colorado OT Raanta 0 12–10–4 28 27 March 12 Arizona 0–4 Minnesota Hill 0 12–11–4 28 28 March 14 Arizona 1–4 Minnesota Raanta 0 12–12–4 28 29 March 16 Arizona 0–3 Minnesota Hill 0 12–13–4 28 30 March 18 Arizona 2–3 Anaheim OT Hill 0 12–13–5 29 31 March 20 Arizona 5–1 Anaheim Raanta 0 13–13–5 31 32 March 22 Colorado 5–1 Arizona Raanta 2,593 13–14–5 31 33 March 23 Colorado 4–5 Arizona SO Hill 2,539 14–14–5 33 34 March 26 San Jose 2–5 Arizona Hill 3,007 15–14–5 35 35 March 27 San Jose 0–4 Arizona Hill 3,217 16–14–5 37 36 March 31 Arizona 3–9 Colorado Hill 0 16–15–5 37
April: 6–9–0 (Home: 2–2–0 ; Road: 4–7–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 April 2 Arizona 4–2 Anaheim Hill 0 17–15–5 39 38 April 4 Arizona 3–2 Anaheim OT Hill 0 18–15–5 41 39 April 5 Arizona 5–2 Los Angeles Hill 0 19–15–5 43 40 April 7 Arizona 3–4 Los Angeles Hill 0 19–16–5 43 41 April 9 Arizona 4–7 Vegas Hill 3,950 19–17–5 43 42 April 11 Arizona 0–1 Vegas Hill 3,950 19–18–5 43 43 April 12 Arizona 2–4 Colorado Prosvetov 4,042 19–19–5 43 44 April 14 Arizona 2–5 Minnesota Raanta 3,000 19–20–5 43 45 April 17 St. Louis 2–3 Arizona Kuemper 3,981 20–20–5 45 46 April 19 Minnesota 5–2 Arizona Kuemper 3,481 20–21–5 45 47 April 21 Minnesota 4–1 Arizona Kuemper 3,736 20–22–5 45 48 April 24 Arizona 4–0 Los Angeles Kuemper 1,497 21–22–5 47 49 April 26 Arizona 4–6 San Jose Hill 520 21–23–5 47 50 April 28 Arizona 2–4 San Jose Kuemper 1,037 21–24–5 47 51 April 30 Vegas 0–3 Arizona Hill 5,111 22–24–5 49
May: 2–2–1 (Home: 0–2–1 ; Road: 2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 May 1 Vegas 3–2 Arizona OT Kuemper 5,671 22–24–6 50 53 May 3 Los Angeles 3–2 Arizona Kuemper 4,983 22–25–6 50 54 May 5 Los Angeles 4–2 Arizona Hill 6,964 22–26–6 50 55 May 7 Arizona 5–2 San Jose Kuemper 1,145 23–26–6 52 56 May 8 Arizona 5–4 San Jose OT Hill 1,249 24–26–6 54
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Draft picks

See also: List of Arizona Coyotes draft picks

Below are the Arizona Coyotes' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	49	Forfeited pick
4	111	Mitchell Miller (renounced)	D	United States	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
5	142	Carson Bantle	LW	United States	Michigan Tech (WCHA)
6	173	Filip Barklund	C	Sweden	Orebro Jr. (J20 SuperElit)
7	192	Elliot Ekefjard	RW	Sweden	Malmö Redhawks Jr. (J20 SuperElit)
7	204	Ben McCartney	LW	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)