Draft picks crucial to Coyotes’ success
Players drafted by Coyotes form special bond on team
Out of team’s 23-man active roster, 10 players originally were drafted by the organization. “We have the best times together at the rink,” said Jakob Chychrun, who was drafted in 2016.
When 19-year-old Victor Soderstrom made his NHL debut for the Arizona Coyotes on January 22, it gave the team 10 players drafted by the organization that have been on the 23-man active roster this season.
Players have often talked of the closeness of the team and how it is a key to any success the Coyotes have had and will have. That bond, for a group of players originally drafted by the club, solidified as they have come up together and found their place on the team.
No Coyote has been with the team longer than 2009 first-round pick and current captain Oliver EkmanLarsson.
Forward Christian Dvorak was a second-round pick in 2014. Forwards Christian Fischer and Conor Garland, defenseman Kyle Capobianco and goalie Adin Hill were drafted in 2015, then came Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun in 2016.
Barrett Hayton was chosen in 2018 and Soderstrom in 2019.
“That’s probably the goal of every organization, is to have good drafts and guys that can kind of grow together. We’re fortunate enough to be in that position, where we have guys that have played together for a number of years now,” Chychrun said. “It is special to have that group and we’re kind of at a stage now where we really need to take the next step as a group and prove that we can win together. That’s really what we’re trying to do now.”
More than half of the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues ros
ter from the 2018-2019 season was made up of players who were originally drafted by the team, and current Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong was an important part of building that Blues roster before he came to Arizona last September.
Armstrong said NHL teams are always trying to build through the draft, in part to operate under the salary cap. Drafted players are affordable early in their careers, until decisions on bigger contracts or allowing them to become free agents have to be made.
“To be effective and to have a competitive team and have a championship team, you not only have to draft well but you have to continually draft well, so you have new pieces coming in,” Armstrong said.
That’s the business side. From a more human perspective, drafted players are vested in the team because it selected and developed them.
Armstrong compares drafted players to being part of a family.
“There’s always ups and downs, you don’t always get along with your family members,” Armstrong said, “but I do honestly believe it’s a huge part of winning a championship, that your homegrown players that you have bred through the system and preached about winning a championship, it catches fire and they fight a little harder.”
None of the players on the team that are original Coyotes draft picks are products of Armstrong’s work, but Armstrong will get his first opportunity to run his own Coyotes draft after this season.
“A lot of us played either with or against each other before we were with the Coyotes, so it feels like a small world,” Keller said. “It’s pretty crazy that we’re all here playing together, and hopefully playing together for a long time and winning a Stanley Cup together,” Keller said. “It’s the team that believed in me and saw something special in me, and we’re so blessed to be able to play our sport right now with everything going on. It really puts things into perspective.”
The Coyotes’ young core that is in place now started being built with the 2014 draft and subsequent drafts and trades for prospects. Over time, the group has formed lasting friendships.
“The friendships start as soon as you’re a teammate with somebody. You’re with these guys every day of the week,” Chychrun said. “It’s not hard to get really close with these guys, and we’ve done that from Day 1.
“We have the best times together at the rink. Even away from the rink, it’s different this year, but usually we’re always together going to dinners on the road,” Chychrun added. “We enjoy each other’s company. When you have that close relationship on the ice, it helps on the ice as well. We just look to continue to grow together, and we’re in a good spot.”