2015 NHL Mock Draft: Arizona Coyotes First Round Pick

Arizona Coyotes Need Front Line Help, Strome Will Provide It

That is why the Arizona Coyotes following the selection of Jack Eichel by the Buffalo Sabres, choose Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters with the third overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Birthdate – March 7, 1997 Birthplace: Mississauga, ON, CAN

Height – 6′ 3″ Weight – 187

His statistics are impressive

From mynhldraft.com, Dan Marr – Director of NHL CS:

"“He has that competitive edge and grittiness; he wants to succeed, wants the puck, wants to score and wants to win. He’s a skilled, driven player, a strong skater with the agility and reach that scouts love.”"

The Arizona Coyotes did their research. Mitch Marner — too small, and no… he is not another Patrick Kane.

Hanifin was tempting, but we think our needs are better met by improving our front line. Strome is 6′ 3″/187 lbs. He is not a great skater, but when we watched video of his play we noticed one thing — his instinct to go to the net, and it pays off for him with goals.

What we need more of on this hockey team is goal scorers. Our defense is starting to gel, and with a superstar like Oliver Ekman-Larsson we have good reason to believe our defense was not our greatest need.

Hanifin had dropped from the #3 projected pick to about 4-5, depending on whose opinion you believe the most. Will our offense improve with the addition of Max Domi and Andrew Duclair? It should, and we certainly think it will.

Strome may be ready to play in a year to two, but the Coyotes will give him the opportunity to prove himself at camp, and see what he’s got. Another concern also, is that Max Domi is not the biggest player around, and yet has tremendous talent and ability.

We want someone like Strome to come in, and use his size to muscle his way to the front of the net. His #19 may remind you of Shane Doan, and his power forward style of play may also be similar.

Strome also displayed excellent leadership abilities when his team-mate Connor McDavid was injured, and Strome stepped right in to lead his team in McDavid’s absence. On any other team, he would have been the number one center.

The Erie Otters had this other guy, McDavid who Strome played with, and had to accept as the player everyone admired. We feel Strome has some excellent potential and up side to his game. He needs to work on his skating, and I’m sure he will.

We just like the way he goes to the net…and again, that is something that is instinctive, and it causes the defense to go to him — leaving his team-mates open for a pass. It brings up a whole series of offensive possibilities — possibilities we lacked last season, and that is why we are choosing Dylan Strome. He just needs to select another jersey number because we’re pretty sure Captain Coyote Shane Doan is keeping that number occupied at least for the near future.

We want to welcome Dylan Strome to the Valley of the Sun, and hope to see him in a Coyotes uniform soon.

Next: Arizona Coyotes #3 Draft Pick: Dylan Strome

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