Arizona Coyotes: Adin Hill Headlines Thin Goaltending Prospect Pool

With the Arizona Coyotes addressing their defensive depth issue at the 2016 NHL Draft, the Coyotes’ weakest prospect pool is now squarely in the blue paint in front of the net.

The Arizona Coyotes are at an organizational crossroads.

The team has acquired a plethora of scoring talent through several years of strong drafting and the increased use of advanced analytics spearheaded by Assistant General Manager turned General Manager John Chayka.

The Coyotes took great steps towards creating defensive prospect depth by drafting and acquiring a variety of defensemen this offseason.

Without some depth in goal, however, the Coyotes could be poised to let this touted scoring talent slip away just as fast as it could get them their first Stanley Cup Playoffs birth in nearly half a decade.

As last season showed Arizona Coyotes fans, you can never have enough goaltenders to backstop a team when injuries roll around.

With Mike Smith suffering a serious core muscle injury early last season, Anders Lindback marked the end of Don Maloney’s tenure as Arizona’s GM and the end to Maloney’s pursuit of making the Coyotes the NHL’s rehab clinic for washed-up goaltenders.

Behind those two, Louis Domingue came up big for the team, but Domingue is likely not the long term solution.

So after scrolling past Smith, the now departed Lindback, and new full-time back-up Domingue, Arizona’s goaltending depth is almost painfully thin.

Erik Kallgren could eventually bloom into a realistic candidate someday. Undrafted Russian goaltender Vasily Demchenko showed some promise at the Coyotes prospect development camp but neither are anything to get super excited about.

The weight of the organization’s goaltending future falls squarely on Adin Hill right now. And that weight might be too much to handle.

Adin Hill posted some decent-to-good stats in his minor league career, was drafted in the 3rd round by the Coyotes in 2015 and signed his entry-level contract with the Coyotes late last season. He played 4 games in Springfield and did a decent job.

Hill is projected as the back-up in Tucson this fall and he’ll likely split a lot of time with veteran NHL goaltender Justin Peters, who the Coyotes signed to mentor Hill.

But the problem with Hill isn’t really him or his play; it’s the pressure the organization is levying on him.

Do you remember Rick DiPietro?

DiPietro was drafted was drafted 1st overall by the Islanders in 2000 and they put all their organizational eggs in one basket when they drafted him.

That gamble stung New York, and it still stings them today. New York has had a merry-go-round of goaltenders since the DiPietro debacle and that’s one reason why the Isles can’t take that next step towards a Stanley Cup Final.