Hayton to start season with Coyotes
Peterborough native Barrett Hayton was officially named Tuesday to the opening night roster of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.
“I always said it was a goal of mine,” Hayton told reporters Tuesday at the Coyotes training camp.
“I always through it was an attainable goal and I really pushed myself this summer and really through camp to get better every day.
“It’s a great feeling to achieve that and I think I have a lot more to achieve.”
Hayton, who was drafted fifth overall by the Coyotes in the June NHL draft, has been out with an upper body injury and had been listed as day to day up until Monday and had seen limited preseason exhibition action.
“He’s going to start off on our opening day roster and we’re just going to take it day by day here,” Coyotes general manager John Chayka told reporter John Matisz of The Score.
“He dealt with a bit of an injury, but he’s feeling pretty good and we’re just going to continue to evaluate our roster and try to put out the best players that give us the best chance to win. He’s in that mix.”
Two of Arizona’s centres, Christian Dvorak and Alex Galchenyuk, are also nursing injuries.
A centre with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the past two OHL seasons, Hayton signed a three-year entry level contract with the Coyotes in July.
“We’re excited, thrilled with the pick,” Chayka said in his interview with Matisz.
“We’re as excited as we were when we drafted him. We did a very deep dive on everything about the player — on and off the ice. Everything we thought and expected has come true.”
“He’s one of those guys who you think will keep getting better and better every single day. He does a lot of good things, makes his teammates better, and came into camp and did a nice job.”
The Coyotes open their season Thursday night on the road against the Dallas Stars.
The Petes will be hosting the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at the Memorial Centre on the same night.
It’s the second year in a row that a Peterborough player will start the season in the NHL as an 18-year-old after having just been drafted in the first round.
Peterborough native Owen Tippett started last season up with the Florida Panthers too after being drafted 10th overall.
But this season, the Panthers have already returned Tippett to the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads.
Tippett was named Monday as a runner-up in the OHL player of the week race after scoring a hat trick in his season debut with the Steelheads.
NOTE: Peterborough native Riley Stillman, 20, who was drafted in the fourth round 114th overall in the 2016 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers, is starting this season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds after winning the OHL championship with the Hamilton Bulldogs last season. The defenceman is the son of former NHL player and current OHL Sudbury Wolves head coach Cory Stillman.