Once again, the Arizona Coyotes did not receive the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, but will be guaranteed two selections in the first round.
The Coyotes ended up with the No. 6 overall pick after the order of selection for lottery teams, 16 in total, was revealed Monday night at the NHL Network studios in New Jersey. The Coyotes have yet to move up in the lottery after finishing with the sixth-worst point total in the league’s regular season.
“It’s exciting and you get caught up in the moment and we’re all competitive people and want to pick at No. 1, but I’ve been doing the draft for 20-some odd years and wherever you pick, you’ve got to find players,” Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong said. “Yes, we won’t blow it out of the park and pick at one, but what we’re going to do is pick two great players in the first round and give ourselves a chance to win a championship with them.”
The Chicago Blackhawks won the first pick after finishing with the third-best odds. After finishing with the best odds, the Anaheim Ducks won the No. 2 pick. The draft will be held June 28-29 in Nashville.
The Coyotes also have the No. 12 selection in the first round, which was awarded in the trade that sent Jakob Chychrun to the Ottawa Senators.
“Ottawa is a good team and there’s a little bit of risk in that pick, but we knew last year we were dealing with one team and we knew the value the team was going to offer us and it was close to that pick,” Armstrong said. “We’re picking in the top-12, right where we said we were going to pick and it’s a great opportunity for us to move forward.”
The Coyotes will have 10 additional picks outside of the first round, including a second round selection, four third round selections, a fourth round selection, two fifth round selections, and two sixth round selections. The Coyotes are loaded with 14 picks in 2024 and 11 in 2025 following this season’s trade deadline.
Connor Bedard, a center with Regina in the Western Hockey League, is the consensus No. 1 overall pick and has led NHL Central Scouting’s rankings all season. Bedard garnered attention long before this season as one of the next generational talents in hockey with his elite shot. The 17-year-old has led the WHL with 71 goals and 143 points in 57 games.
This year’s draft class is filled with talent besides Bedard, including center Adam Fantilli, who won the Hobey Baker Award at Michigan. Swedish center Leo Carlsson is No. 1 among international skaters. Other names include Will Smith from the U.S. National Team Development Program.
Several players with good NHL careers have been chosen at No. 6, including former Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson in 2009. Other players include Jamie Drysdale (2020), Moritz Seider (2019), Matthew Tkachuk (2016), Pavel Zacha (2015), Sean Monahan (2013), Hampus Lindholm (2012), and Mika Zibanejad (2011).
With the spots finalized for the first round, Armstrong’s focus with his staff shifts.
“You get dialed in now and it’s time to have our amateur meetings and really get focused on who we have a chance to get in the draft. We start really preparing on who we can really get at sixth and 12th,” Armstrong said. “It’s really good when you finally know where you’re going to pick and it’s an exciting time.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes to select sixth overall in NHL Draft
