Kyle Wood has been shining in Tucson, and if he keeps it up he’ll find his way to the Arizona Coyotes in short order.
Arizona Coyotes prospect and Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Kyle Wood took part in the skills competition at the AHL All-Star game last weekend.
He was part of the ‘Hardest Shot’ contest.
After his attempt, the digital screen read 99.3 miles per hour. Could it have been a glitch in the speedometer?
I think not.
Wood was awarded the crown of “Hardest Shot” for that blast, securing a nice accolade to go along with his stellar season.
99.3 pic.twitter.com/zanEl1meKF
— Tucson Roadrunners (@RoadrunnersAHL) January 30, 2017
Along with Wood’s hefty frame of 6’5” and 235 pounds, comes a beautiful and impressive slap-shot that is hard to ignore. The big 20-year-old out muscled the field in last weekends competition and instantly turned heads, leaving a lot of fans wondering about his back-story.
So, who is Defenseman Kyle Wood and where did he come from?
During the 2014 NHL Draft, the Waterloo, Ontario native was selected in the 3rd Round (84th Overall) by the Colorado Avalanche.
In early 2016, former Coyotes’ GM Don Maloney dealt Mikkel Boedker to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Kyle Wood, Alex Tanguay, and Conner Bleackley.
Before then, the right-shot defenseman spent 3 seasons in the OHL playing for the North Bay Battalion.
In his second and third seasons, Wood registered stats of 16-24-40 and 8-31-39, respectively.
By his third season, Wood was making an impact with not only his play, but his leadership. He was awarded with assistant captain of the team.
Wood was making a name for himself in the OHL with his play-making abilities, hard shot, and valuable size, making him a very attractive prospect for the Coyotes.
Impressing in Tucson
In his first full AHL season, Wood has already established himself has a key contributor to the Roadrunners.
In just 38 games played he has tallied 30 total points (8-22-30).
Shockingly, Wood has even been awarded with two shoot-out attempts this year. He scored on one of those attempts. Pretty cool if you ask me.
Tucson Roadrunners head coach Mark Lamb must have a lot of confidence in Wood, as he is getting good ice time and opportunities to shine. That is spectacular for a developing defenseman and very important for the future of the Arizona Coyotes.
Next: It's Another Down Year, But The Yotes' Future Is Bright
We are only halfway through his first season, and fans are comparing his size and skill set to Shea Weber.How wonderful would that be if it played out in even a close approximation for the Coyotes?
We will have to wait and see, but in the meantime we can enjoy watching Kyle Wood develop into his game.He may be playing in his first NHL game sooner than we think.