There’s going to be no shortage of NHL opportunities up for grabs with the Arizona Coyotes in the coming years. Just a cursory glance at their depth chart makes as much immediately clear. This is a team with both eyes fixed on the future, and then some.
Because winning is still a secondary objective in the desert, this is fertile ground if you’re an up-and-coming prospect looking to establish yourself in the big leagues. You don’t need to worry about a bad giveaway putting a dent in your chances of making the show; you can just play your game without scaling it back. Coyotes prospects will get a great chance to test and push their real skills against the best competition.
As long the coaching staff continues to show patience and a steady hand at the draft continues to line the cupboards with blue chip prospects, the Coyotes could start developing more NHL impact talent than the average team, putting the organization on a path to contention in the long-term.
The improvement of the team’s prospect pool over the last year is already a sign that they are moving in the right direction. The addition of Logan Cooley and Connor Geekie, a pair of top prospects in last July’s draft, and the unexpected development of Matias Macceli pushed this pool from the 22nd spot in our system rankings to the eighth one in the span of a single year.
Below, you will find a breakdown of the team’s top-15 Calder-eligible prospects and an evaluation of their skills, weaknesses, and projection.
