Arizona Coyotes Quarter-Century Teams unveiled

Now that 2025 is here, the NHL is celebrating the best of the past 25 years by revealing Quarter-Century Teams for each of the League's 32 franchises and the Arizona Coyotes.

Each club will be represented by a first team and second team of six players -- three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie -- who played for the franchise after Jan. 1, 2000. The first and second teams were selected by broadcasters, national, local and NHL.com writers who have covered the respective teams, in addition to select former players.

The six players voted to each First Team will be on the ballot for the NHL All Quarter-Century Team that will be chosen via a fan vote that will start in February.

We continue today by revealing the First and Second Quarter-Century Teams for the Arizona Coyotes, who played through the 2023-24 season before the franchise was put on pause and all of its hockey operations assets moved to Utah to become the Utah Hockey Club.

Players are listed in alphabetical order:

ARIZONA COYOTES QUARTER-CENTURY TEAM

First team

Forwards

Shane Doan

Clayton Keller

Radim Vrbata

Defensemen

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Keith Yandle

Goalie

Mike Smith

Forwards: Doan is and forever will be Mr. Coyote. He arrived with the franchise when it relocated from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996 and played with the Coyotes through the 2016-17 season. Doan is Arizona's all-time leader in all major offensive categories as well as games, including in this century with 1,254 games played, 369 goals, 521 assists, 890 points, 61 game-winning goals and 10 overtime goals. He played in 485 more games, scored 203 more goals, had 261 more assists, 472 more points, 30 more game-winning goals and three more overtime goals than anyone else to wear the uniform this century. Behind Doan is Keller, who is now the captain of the Utah Hockey Club. Keller, the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft to Arizona, played in 520 games, which is third among forwards this century. He was second behind Doan with 166 goals, third with 252 assists and second with 418 points. His 0.80 points per game was first among the 23 Coyotes skaters who appeared in at least 300 games. Vrbata had three separate stints with Arizona (2007-08, 2009-14 and 2016-17). Among forwards, he was fourth in games played (509), third in goals (157), fourth in assists (186) and third in points (343).

Defensemen: Ekman-Larsson, who is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is the most decorated defenseman in Coyotes history. They selected him with the No. 6 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft and he played with Arizona from 2010-21. Ekman-Larsson is second behind Doan this century with 769 games played. He has the most goals (128), assists (260) and points (388) among Arizona defensemen. Yandle, a fourth-round pick (No. 105) by the Coyotes in 2005, played in 558 games with the franchise from 2006-15. He is second behind Ekman-Larsson among defensemen with 65 goals, 246 assists and 311 points.

Goalie: Smith led all Coyotes goalies with 312 games played, 310 starts and 22 shutouts. His 128 wins were second behind Ilya Bryzgalov's 130. Among Coyotes goalies to appear in 100 games, Smith was fifth in goals-against average (2.69) and save percentage (.916). He led the Coyotes to the Western Conference Final in 2012, going 9-7 with a 1.99 GAA, .944 save percentage and three shutouts.

Second team

Forwards

Martin Hanzal

Jeremy Roenick

Nick Schmaltz

Defensemen

Zbynek Michalek

Teppo Numminen

Goalie

Ilya Brzygalov

Forwards: Some old, in the middle and newer Coyotes in this group. Roenick played just 193 games for the Coyotes over two stints this century. He joined the team when it moved from Winnipeg in 1996 and played with the Coyotes through the 2000-01 season before going to Philadelphia. Roenick returned to play 70 games in 2006-07. The recently inducted Hockey Hall of Famer had 136 points (56 goals, 80 assists) in his 193 games with Arizona this century. Hanzal went to the Coyotes with the No. 17 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. He played with them for 10 seasons from 2007-17 before being traded to the Minnesota Wild. Among all Coyotes players this century, Hanzal is second in games played (608), fourth in goals (117), third in assists (196) and fourth in points (313). Schmaltz joined the Coyotes via a trade from Chicago on Nov. 25, 2018. He moved with Keller and the franchise to Utah, but before he did, Schmaltz played in 344 games with the Coyotes and had 269 points (93 goals, 176 assists). His 0.78 points per game is tied for second behind Keller.

Defensemen: Michalek had three stints with the Coyotes from 2005-17. He played with them from 2005-10, returned in 2013 and was in Arizona until he was traded late in the 2014-15 season. But he came back to the Coyotes in the 2015 offseason and played through his retirement after the 2016-17 season. All told, the big defenseman played in 612 games and had 140 points (32 goals, 108 assists). Numminen was an original Coyote and played with them through the 2002-03 season. He had 128 points (28 goals, 100 assists) and a plus-35 rating after the turn of the century.

Goalie: Brzygalov led all Coyotes goalies this century in wins and was 130-93-27 with a 2.54 GAA, .917 save percentage and 21 shutouts in 257 games.

Coming Thursday: Columbus Blue Jackets Quarter-Century Team