Hayton goes fifth in NHL draft to the Coyotes
Fourth year in a row a Peterborough minor hockey product taken in first round
Barrett Hayton made Peterborough history at the NHL Entry Draft on Friday night in Dallas.
Hayton became the highest Peterborough native ever selected when the Arizona Coyotes drafted him fifth overall.
“I can’t lie, it was the organization I wanted to go to most,” Hayton told AZCentral.com.
“I got a great feel from Arizona through the interview process so I knew there was a chance. I feel they have an amazing future ahead.”
Hayton squeezes past Cory Stillman who was the sixth overall pick of the Calgary Flames in 1992. Bob Gainey (eighth to the Montreal Canadiens in 1973) and Owen Tippett (10th to the Florida Panthers In 2017) are the only Peterborough-born players to be selected in the top 10.
It also marks the fourth straight year a player who played in the Minor Petes’
AAA system has been drafted along with Tippett, Riley Stillman to Florida in 2016 and Mitchell Stephens to Tampa Bay in 2015. Hayton, Tippett and Stephens all finished their minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.
Hayton was the ninth-overall pick in the 2016 OHL draft by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In his second OHL season he scored 21 goals and recorded 60 points.
Hayton’s father, a Petes alumnus, was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 12th-round of the 1986 NHL draft.