Arizona Coyotes Could Start Dominoes At NHL Draft

The Arizona Coyotes suffered through (embraced?) a surprisingly bad season in 2014-15. Antoine Vermette, Keith Yandle, and Zbynek Michalek were all traded away for future potential while Mike Smith suffered through what I’ll call a challenging season. The struggles didn’t pay off come lottery time as the Arizona Coyotes were passed by the Edmonton Oilers and bumped to the third overall pick.

Barring a bout with insanity neither the Edmonton Oilers nor Buffalo Sabres will be trading out of the top two, so forget Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. While it’s not great news, 27 other teams missed out on them too. And it may result in a position of strength for the Arizona Coyotes.

General manager Don Maloney has a decision to make. Do the Coyotes stay near the bottom of the league with eyes on Auston Matthews, the locally born phenom thought to be the top pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft? Or is there enough in the cupboard for the team to make a run next season?

Even assuming Smith is average after his terrible season and Oliver Ekman-Larsson is still underappreciated for how good he really is, it’s unlikely the Arizona Coyotes will take huge steps out from the bottom of the league standings. Now comes the choice for Maloney.

How deep is the overall prospect pool for the Coyotes? Even with Anthony Duclair coming back in the Yandle deal, the prospect pool is lacking a clear top presence at forward. So taking the next best center, Dylan Strome, with the third pick isn’t unreasonable. He ranks fourth overall at nhl.com and fills a need in Arizona.

The same ranking slides Noah Hanifin just ahead of Strome in third as the top ranked defenseman in the draft. Do the Arizona Coyotes take the defenseman and give him one year to develop in the minors? The pair of Ekman-Larsson and Hanifin could be a monster top tandem for years to come. And not playing right away allows Arizona to keep the dream of Matthews alive.

Trading the pick is also possible. It’s not trading one of the top two picks as I have considered before so the package wouldn’t be as substantial. However a few draft picks over this year’s draft and next, plus an NHL-ready forward for the second or third line will give the Arizona Coyotes more future assets and still select a good prospect depending on how far Maloney would be willing to slide back.

On a team with so many needs I don’t expect the Arizona Coyotes to attempt any sort of run towards the playoffs this season. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Ask the Buffalo Sabres how that’s worked out over the last few years. If I’m Maloney, I would keep the pick at three this year.

I would then take Hanifin and give him a year in the minors to work on his game and improve. It takes defensemen longer to get NHL ready and with Matthews at the top of the draft next season. I know the odds aren’t as good next year as they were this. But that didn’t stop teams from taking a run this year with two talents at the top.

The more likely trade scenario involved the Chicago Blackhawks first-round pick acquired in the Vermette deal. Maloney could be bold and move up in the draft, not to the fifth pick or that area but the ability to move into the middle of round one is there should a player fall down the draft board.

The Arizona Coyotes are going to add multiple players to their future and chart the course for 2015-16 in the next few weeks. Maloney will be one of many GM’s to watch as time ticks away on the draft clock. The options should make this draft exciting for Arizona Coyotes fans and hopefully help settle any long-term concerns about the team in Glendale.

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