A pending change in ownership and the uncertain futures of Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk didn't affect the Phoenix Coyotes' start to the 2000-01 season. But it certainly affected the end of it, as the Coyotes struggled down the stretch of yet another season. Except in this instance, the Coyotes missed the playoffs for the first time since 1995, when the franchise was still in Winnipeg. After a 9-1-5 start, the Coyotes were .500 the rest of the way. They tied Vancouver for eighth place in the Western Conference, but lost the playoff tiebreaker with one fewer win than Vancouver and missed out on the No. 8 seed. In the process, Wayne Gretzky's ownership group bought the team, and captain Tkachuk was shipped to St. Louis.

	2000-01 by the numbers
	Record: 35-27-17-3, 90 points (T15th overall, T8th West, 4th Pacific) Man-games lost to injury: 142 (25th) Goals for: 214/2.61 (18th) Goals against: 212/2.59 (14th) Differential: 2 (15th overall) 20-goal scorers: Jeremy Roenick* (30), Keith Tkachuk* (29) Shane Doan (26) 50-point scorers: Roenick (76), Doan (63) * - no longer on team

Looking at next season
Tkachuk's departure was just the beginning of a rather large rebuilding program undertaken by Gretzky and general manager Cliff Fletcher, in part to cut the team's salary. The Coyotes turned over more than one-third of their roster from last season. Besides letting Roenick depart for Philadelphia via unrestricted free agency, the Coyotes made several moves to get younger and quicker. Newcomers Tyler Bouck, Daymond Langkow, Todd Warriner and highly touted defenseman Danny Markov fit those requirements for the franchise, which has been in the red ever since moving to Phoenix in 1996. Left wing Sergei Berezin, who soon will be 30, is the eldest of the new acquisitions. However, he's a great skater and will have no trouble keeping up with the young guns. The Coyotes also picked up Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus, Paul Mara, Todd Warriner and Mike Johnson in the last six months.

As a result, the Coyotes have a young roster full of developing talent and a goalie in Sean Burke, who has established a career of making lots of saves on mediocre teams (Hartford, Carolina, Florida). As far as leadership, responsibility rests squarely on All-Star defenseman Teppo Numminen and right wing Claude Lemieux. An interesting question to ponder throughout the season is whether Gretzky would jettison his good friend Lemieux at the trade deadline. Lemieux's postseason reputation -- winning Cups in New Jersey (2), Colorado and Montreal -- makes him valuable in the spring. If the Coyotes are serious about rebuilding, it might make sense to deal him if the team is out of contention.

The Coyotes are thin on defense and at center. They have four NHL-caliber centers -- Trevor Letowski, Daniel Briere, Langkow and Handzus -- but there's no clear No. 1, and outside of the 6-foot-5 Handzus, the other three are under than six feet tall. Mike Sullivan could see more time in the middle if the smaller guys get knocked around in the defensive zone. On the blue line, the Coyotes don't have enough depth for an elite top six. Markov and Numminen will be solid on the power play, and Todd Simpson is a decent veteran. But Mara, 21, and Radoslav Suchy, 25, need to step up their collective games. Ossi Vaananen, after an impressive rookie season, must continue to be a rock-solid stay-at-home defenseman.

Behind Burke, Robert Esche might not be too much of a drop off. The 23-year-old goalie was rather average last season (10-8-4, 3.02 GAA, .896 save percentage), but he played extremely well for Team USA at the 2001 World Championship and should be helped by the experience. To give Phoenix a chance to win every night, both goalies will have to be sharp. To actually get those wins, it's necessary for the young forwards to produce offensively, and hopefully, one of them will emerge as an All-Star. Whether it's irony or coincidence, Gretzky has created a team not unlike the contemporary Edmonton Oilers -- young, fast and unpredictable -- which actually makes the team interesting to watch.

Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com.