Arizona Coyotes’ forward Barrett Hayton impresses during AHL stint

The Arizona Coyotes lost Barrett Hayton to an injury following his stint at the World Juniors last month. The good thing for the team is Hayton is close to a return.

The Arizona Coyotes could use Barrett Hayton as another centerman to add to this team’s depth down the middle. I know that Hayton is still young and still has a lot of growing to do, but this might be a different Hayton than what we saw in December. Now he has a stint as a captain of Team Canada at a World Juniors tournament behind him and is poised to help this team make the playoffs.

This might sound crazy but hear me out. Why not give Barrett Hayton some shifts with Taylor Hall? I know that Hayton is not the best center this team has, but he is the one with the most upside to come a few years down the line. Hayton is the future of this team, and that is saying a lot because we have so many first-round draft picks from the last five years on this roster.

Hayton playing with Taylor Hall right now would allow him to gain some experience playing with an elite NHL MVP in Hall. It would also allow Hayton to play with some of the bests of the best, instead of playing on the team’s third or fourth line.

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Moving Hayton too a line with Hall would also allow the Christian Dvorak, Nick Schmaltz, and Clayton Keller line to reunite. I really like what those three forwards did when they were playing together this season, and would love to see some kind of combination of this again.

Hayton is showing that he is ready to come back to the NHL following his upper-body injury at the world juniors. While he is currently on loan to the Tucson Roadrunners for a conditioning stint, he is definitely making some big plays. Just look at Hayton’s first goal since being out for so long.

Only time will tell when Hayton will be back with the Coyotes, but my guess is we will see him sooner rather than later!