Coyotes set sights on ‘handful’ of players in NHL draft
With the No. 5 pick in Friday’s NHL draft, the Coyotes are likely going to get a good player. The question is just which player that will be.
In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka said the club will be employing a best-player-available philosophy within the group of prospects the scouting department has highlighted.
Chayka also walked back comments he has made regarding “premium position” players, such as centers and toppair defensemen, which adds some intrigue as to what the Coyotes could have planned for their first selection.
Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and Russian-born winger Andrei Svechnikov are considered virtual locks to be selected first and second overall by the Sabres and Hurricanes, respectively, but the rest of the first round is still up in the air.
If the Coyotes indeed make their first pick, something that is not a foregone conclusion given that Chayka has traded two firstround selections in his two previous drafts, they are likely to choose among six players, according to various scouts and league sources.
That group is comprised of three forwards and three defensemen. The forwards are Czech-born winger Filip Zadina, Boston University forward Brady Tkachuk and college-bound sniper Oliver Wahlstrom. The defensemen are Michigan’s Quinn Hughes, Canadian product Noah Dobson and 17-year-old Swede Adam Boqvist, the latter two of whom are right-shot blueliners.
“Depending on moving up and down and who’s got what pick, there’s some uncertainty,” Chayka said regarding the fifth overall selection. “I think we’re looking at a handful of guys that we feel confident have the ability to make us better in the long-term. Not a big group, but a group that we feel very good about.”
Of course, one or two of those players could come off the board to the Canadiens and/or Senators at Nos. 3-4, respectively, which could prompt the Coyotes to move the pick, select another player from the aforementioned group, or select someone else.
In the latest azcentral sports mock draft, I have Montreal going off the board for top-ranked center Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ottawa scooping up Zadina, whom many consider to be the third-best player in the class. Although it’s unclear how Arizona has ranked the players on their draft board, such a scenario would still leave them with five of the six players in the group from which they are expected to pick.
This draft class is deep with talented wingers such as Svechnikov, Zadina, Tkachuk and Wahlstrom all projected to go in the top 10. Chayka said that although he weighs position when searching out draft targets, it’s not the only factor.
“If there’s two players and one is significantly better, then you’re going with the better player,” Chayka said. “We all know how teams are built and we know the importance of (premium positions).
“It’s just like we did with Clayton Keller (at No. 7 overall in 2016),” Chayka said. “Even though everyone wanted us to take a defenseman, we took the best player available. That’s our mindset.”
Keller has certainly worked out for the Coyotes since being drafted, as the 19-year-old led the team in goals (23) and points (65). Keller finished third in voting for the Calder Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s top rookie.
Could Keller’s success further tempt the Coyotes to go down a similar path of best-player-available at this year’s draft?
“We’re just going about trying to obtain value and find talent to build up the best prospect chart that we can,” Chayka said. “It’s helpful for so many different reasons — building a team, making trades, and really anything else we need to do.”
As far as trading goes, anything is possible at this point and talks only intensify as the draft grows closer. Chayka already has made three trades in the past week, the most significant of which was the acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk from the Canadiens in exchange for Max Domi.
“When you’re at the draft, you can really feel the intensity of discussions picking up,” Chayka said. “The discussions are motivated and they have some more intensity to them. … These are serious discussions now.”
Overall, the Coyotes will make seven picks in the draft and have five selections within the first 74. While there’s no specific position the Coyotes are looking to address, according to Chayka, the club is feeling confident that it can bolster its depth chart.
“All I can tell you is that, from my chair, there’s a lot of enthusiasm from our scouting staff about our picks,” Chayka said. “We feel really good about the opportunity to add some depth to our group and continue to build out a first-class prospect pool.”