Keith Yandle made strides but still needs better defense

Whether studying a single game or an entire season, Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle's play seems only to stir mixed feelings.

Moments of offensive beauty are too often juxtaposed with defensive lapses, and that contrast was on full display again this past season. While quarterbacking the Western Conference's best power-play unit, keying a much-needed resurgence, Yandle was still suspect in his own end at times.

"There's always that risk-reward factor in it," coach Dave Tippett said. "With Yands, his power-play play this year went to another level, went to a level we hadn't seen before. He took a responsibility for improving our power play and a leadership role and did a very good job. That being said, his defensive play is still — it's inconsistent."

Along with assistant coach Newell Brown, Yandle deserves the bulk of the credit for the rebirth of the power play. After ranking among the worst in the league the previous five seasons, the unit finished fourth in the league at 19.9 percent.

"It was great," Yandle said. "It was something we had confidence in our group to go out there and change the game, whether it was to score a goal or get momentum."

Pairing Yandle with Oliver Ekman-Larsson was another catalyst for the change, but Yandle's ability to handle the pressure at the blue line and decide between shot or pass was exemplary.

But despite racking up 31 power-play points (tied for most among defensemen in the NHL) and a league-high 28 power-play assists among defensemen, Yandle carried a team-worst minus-23 ranking.

Part of that number is skewed by a league-high 12 empty-net goals given up by the Coyotes, but there's still some credibility to it.

The Coyotes were pleased with his play during the month of December as Yandle definitely seemed to be better at picking his spots of when to jump into the offensive zone and when to stay behind. Finding a better balance, however, remains a goal.

"I felt like I took good strides defensively, but it's one of those things you gotta get better every year," Yandle said. "For me, you gotta work harder with it every year."

That off-season objective will likely be accompanied by another round of trade rumors. Yandle's name has been batted around for almost the past two years without the Coyotes executing a deal.

Considering he led the Coyotes in points for the second consecutive year (more recently totaling 53) and has two more years left on his contract with a $5.25 million annual cap hit, there's no reason to expect the speculation to die down.

"Like I've always said, it's a good thing if teams are wanting you and I think it's when teams don't want you you've gotta be a little bit worried," Yandle said. "For me, it's been so long that I've gotten a little immune to it."

The Coyotes seem to be on the brink of a defensive renovation by welcoming Connor Murphy and Brandon Gormley into the fold, but it's still unclear how or if this affects Yandle.

"Coming into July 1 and obviously the draft and stuff like that, you look at your team," Yandle said. "You want us to get better, and you want to go out and get free agents and draft well, obviously. But you never know what's going to happen, and that's the nature of the business."