2022 MOCK DRAFT: ARIZONA COYOTES

This is a mock draft of the 2022 NHL draft with the Arizona Coyotes, who have 10 picks in the draft, including 7 in the first two rounds. They could possibly add even more picks at the draft by trading away some of their valuable assets at the draft.

Related: Montreal Canadiens Mock Draft

Before the 2022 Draft, two trades are made

Arizona Coyotes trade Jakob Chychurun to the LA Kings for Tobias Bjornfot, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Jordan Spence, 1st round pick ’22.

The LA Kings get a top-pair defenseman to pair with Drew Doughty, while the Coyotes have three really good young prospects and a 1st round pick.

Phil Kessel is traded to the Buffalo Sabres for 5th round pick ’22.

Arizona gets a fifth-round pick for Phil Kessel, who is set to be an unrestricted Free agent in July.

2022 Draft

3-Logan Cooley
19-Frank Nazar
30-Jack Hughes
31-Lian Bichsel
35-Maveric Lamoureux
37-Nathan Gaucher
43-Elias Salomonsson
45-Alexander Perevalov
67-Ivan Zhigalov
130-Fabian Wagner
131-Elmeri Laakso
163-Tim Almgren

The Arizona Coyotes started the draft off by selecting Logan Cooley with the 3rd overall pick in the 2022 Draft, Cooley is the biggest riser of any player on the draft board, starting the year outside the top 10 but now he is a consensus top 3 pick. Logan is a two-way stud, who will succeed in the NHL due to his elite defensive instincts, high hockey IQ, and faceoff prowess. He is a future Selke trophy nominee, and is a player coaches can rely on in key situations.

Joining Logan Cooley is goal-scoring forward, Frank Nazar, who he played with for the United States National Development Team. Frank Nazar can play both center and wing, which would give the team many options to play around with in the future. As an added bonus, the Chemistry he has playing with Logan Cooley will make the transition to the NHL much easier. With the 30th pick, the Coyotes drafted another former USNTDP player, Jack Hughes, a dependable and hard-working, two-way center. His offensive numbers may not be that impressive, but he projects to be an effective checking line center.

Arizona decides to pick two towering defensemen with their next two picks in the form of 6-foot-5, Lian Bischel, and 6-foot-7 Maveric Lamoureux. Both a tall and smooth-skating defenseman the two of them combined could make up a terrifying tandem in the future.
Bichsel and Lamoreux are both long-term projects, but because they both have massive potential and massive frames, it is worth the risk.

With their other three picks in the 2nd round, they select Center, Nathan Gaucher, winger Alexander Peravalov, and defenseman Elias Salomonsson. Nathan Gaucher is a Big center, who plays well on both ends of the ice, he was nominated for the Guy Carboneau Award as the top defensive forward in the QMJHL. Alexander Peravalov is a boom or bust pick, he first-round talent, and has all the tools to be a great player in the league, but his game still needs fine-tuning. Elias Salomonsson is a pure offensive defenseman and has all the tools to be a top-four puck-moving defenseman, but his defense needs to be improved be for that happens. These three prospects, Gaucher, Peravalov, and Salomonsson will take a couple years of development before they are NHL ready, but that is okay because the Coyotes aren’t in any rush.

Finnish Goaltender, Topias Leinonen is selected in the 3rd round of the draft. With a 6’4/216 frame, the Finnish netminder is the ideal size for an NHL goalie. Leinonen is a big and athletic goalie, who moves well laterally and according to draft rankings are the best European goalie in this draft class. He certainly will take some time to develop before he is NHL ready, but he has the potential to be a starter in the NHL.

Arizona has two 5th-round picks in the 2022 draft, which they use to draft Winger, Fabian Wagner, and defenseman Elmeri Laakso. Fabian Wagner put up 38 points in 43 games with Linkoping J20 in the regular season, then added 5 points in 8 games in the playoffs.
Wagner is a dynamic playmaker, who really knows how to put up points but he is a poor defender and can be labeled a perimeter player. Elmeri Laakso played for 4 teams this season: SaiPa U18, SaiPa U20, SaiPa, and JoKP; he was productive will all of the teams he played with.
Laakso has the tools to be a solid top 4 defenseman, but he certainly will need to improve defensively for that to happen.

Then with their final pick in the draft, they select Tim Algren, an undersized, but highly-skilled, Swedish forward, capable of putting up points. Almgren started the year with Orebro J18, where he tallied 13 points in 10 games in the Region league, as well as 7 points in 4 games in Nationell league play. The majority of his season was spent with the J20 team, where he tallied 40 points in 44 games, along with 6 points in 6 games in the playoffs. Although he was picked in the 6th round, he has potential to be a top 9 forward down the road.

The Arizona Coyotes had a really good draft, improving the defense a whole lot, adding some offensive firepower on offense, and most importantly adding to their depleted goaltending depth in the pipeline. While many of the players drafted may not play immediately, they could be key pieces for the team a few years down the road.

Arizona Coyotes sign the following players:

Ryan Strome-4yrs/5.5M per
PK Subban-2yrs/4.5M per
Frank Vatrano-3yrs/2.75M per

This is how the lineup looks like next season

2022-23 Arizona Coyotes

N.Schmaltz-B.Hayton-C.Keller
F.Vatrano-R.Strome-D.Guenther
L.Crouse-L.Cooley-N.Smith
M.Carcarone-J.McBain-T.Boyd

S.Gostisbehere-D.Mayo
J.Moser-PK.Subban
K.Copobianco-V.Soderstrom

K.Vejmelka
H.Sateri

Top Prospects:
F: F.Nazar, J.Hughes, N.Gaucher, A.Peravalov, F.Wagner, T.Almgren
D: L.Bischsel, M.Lamoureux, E.Salomonsson, E.Laakso
G: T.Leinonen, A.Thornton, I.Prosvetov