Duclair working hard to regain scoring touch
The Arizona Coyotes need more from Anthony Duclair.
The sophomore scorer has struggled through his second season with the Desert Dogs, tallying just four points and a single goal through the team's first 25 games.
While a second-year slump is one thing, Duclair appears to be more than a little snakebitten.
To Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett, the young forward was simply in need of a "reset."
"For a scorer, when they're not scoring, all they think about is scoring," Tippett told Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. "Sometimes you have a little reset, and it kind of gets all the parts of their game back in order and it's amazing how the scoring comes back around."
Duclair, 21, is one of many young players holding down spots with the Coyotes this season. That lists also includes the likes of 21-year-old Max Domi, 19-year-old Lawson Crouse, and 18-year-old blue-liner Jakob Chychrun, among other fresh faces.
"A lot of young players go through it," Tippett continued. "It's nothing new. We've talked about it with our young defensemen already that they just need to take a step back and catch their breath and get reset and go at it. That's no different than Anthony.”
Perhaps Duclair's decline was predictable. After scoring at an unsustainably-high 19 per cent last season, that number has dipped to a lowly 5.6 per cent this year. There's a middle ground in there where Duclair will find goals.
In the meantime, Duclair continues to work on his game to rediscover his scoring touch. Since being scratched Dec. 5 versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, he has appeared in two games, recording one shot, four penalty minutes, but no points.
"I knew it was going to be tougher than last year," Duclair said. "I think last year, coming in, things were going my way almost every game sometimes. Now I just got to work hard for it. It's totally normal coming into your second year. I know I can help my team win. I know I can score goals. It's just a matter of just putting that extra time in."