Where will Barrett Hayton and Victor Soderstrom play when the Arizona Coyotes return to the ice in 2021?
After a very tumultuous offseason, the Arizona Coyotes have some roster decisions to make. There have been questions in the past about how the coyotes have treated the maturation process for prospects coming through the system.
When it comes to players such as Kyle Turris playing in the NHL at the age of 18 or Mikkel Boedker and Peter Mueller at 19, those decisions were very detrimental to the player’s growth. Whereas top-notch organizations tend to keep their prospects in the minors into their early 20’s. Letting players continue to dominate in the OHL, College, and other junior leagues before coming to the AHL and eventually, NHL has paid dividends on many occasions.
This, among many other mistakes, has held the Coyotes back from being a legitimate and successful organization. Yet here we are again, with rookies Barrett Hayton and Victor Soderstrom. First, we have Barrett Hayton.
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Barrett Hayton
The 19-year-old center was drafted fifth overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. A pick that was widely critiqued by people in the league, as Barret Hayton was ranked outside the top-10 on most pre-draft ranking lists. Hayton soon changed many of those rankers’ opinions with a strong showing in the OHL for Sault Ste. Marie. In two seasons for the Greyhounds, Hayton tallied 47 goals, 79 Assists for 116 points in 102 games.
He showed an improved scoring touch and defensive game that had scouts believing that Hayton had the ability to grow into a No. 1 center in the NHL. One thing the Coyotes have been missing for nearly decades is a legit number one center. The team hasn’t had a No. 1 center since Jeremy Roenick played in Phoenix in the first couple of years of the franchise’s time in the valley.
Hayton and the Coyotes’ decision is whether or not to have him play down in Tucson for the AHL Roadrunners. He would be the first line center, on the power play, penalty kill, and get crunch time minutes. The Roadrunners also look to make it back to the playoffs, so he would play in many high leverage situations.
Or they could keep him up on the big club, where he would more than likely slide into a bottom-six role, playing against much better competition and being challenged from day 1. Though he showed spurts last year that he could handle it, you risk killing his confidence and stunting his growth. I would say Hayton is the most important prospect the Coyotes have had in years.