The Arizona Coyotes will officially select 14th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, with the draft lottery having no impact on their draft position.
With the Arizona Coyotes missing out on the playoffs by four points, the team had the 14th best odds of winning the lottery, with a 1.5% chance – out of a possible 15 teams.
With the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks all jumping up into the first three spots respectively, the Coyotes remained in 14th place – ahead of the Montreal Canadiens.
Now that the Coyotes know where they will be selecting in the first round, general manager John Chayka can start working on building an ideal draft board for the team.
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This year’s draft appears to have prospects dividing various scouting organisations, with players sitting between tenth and 30th finding their individual rankings spread across the board.
One such player is Arthur Kaliyev, who currently plies his trade with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
The 17-year-old American winger had a stellar draft year with the Bulldogs, earning 51 goals and another 51 assists for 102 total points in 67 regular season games.
Kaliyev, who stands at 6-foot-2, 190lbs, led the Bulldogs in total points and had 23 more goals than the team’s second-highest goalscorer Matthew Strome.
Despite his outstanding regular season campaign, Kaliyev has been ranked as high as 11th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and as low as 28th overall by both ISS Hockey and Future Considerations.
With players such as Kaliyev, Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook receiving rankings that could put them squarely in the path of the Arizona Coyotes, the organisation should have plenty of forward options to choose from with the 14th overall pick.
Rick Tocchet’s team needs a serious injection of goalscoring over the next couple of seasons and there will be plenty of players entering the 2019 draft that could offer that to the Coyotes.
While the fanbase was hoping for an upset, seeing the team land a top three pick, the 14th overall selection will still provide plenty of value to the organisation and the excitement should begin to grow the closer to draft day it gets.
What do you think Coyotes fans? Are you disappointed the team didn’t win the lottery? Are you satisfied with the 14th overall pick? Who should the team target? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!