Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong is excited.
Of course, it's hard not to be considering he and his staff will pick at No. 6 and No. 12 in the 2023 NHL Draft.
The dust has settled following Monday's NHL Draft Lottery, and things shook out exactly how Armstrong and his scouting staff had expected. Though Arizona didn't move up into one of the top two spots of the upcoming draft, which will be held in Nashville on June 28-29, it did maintain its position at sixth overall, and also retained the Ottawa Senators' pick at No. 12 as well.
Now that there's clarity on the positioning, Armstrong and his all-star scouting staff can get down to business.
"It's exciting. You get caught up in the moment," Armstrong said. "I believe in our staff that we've got a great opportunity to pick some quality NHL players that can help make a difference and turn this organization into a playoff contender. I think we have that ability.
"When you're picking at six and 12 you have a chance to acquire some high-end talent."
The upcoming draft marks the second consecutive year in which Arizona owns at least two picks in the first round, following last year's selections of Logan Cooley (3rd overall), Conor Geekie (11th), and Maveric Lamoureux (29th).
It's also the third straight year they'll have a selection in the top ten after selecting Dylan Guenther ninth overall in 2021.
Those pieces have already started to make their mark within the organization. Guenther played 33 games with the Coyotes this year, and is currently playing with the Seattle Thunderbirds, where he leads all WHL players with 14 playoff goals.
Cooley was a finalist for the NCAA's Hobey Baker Award as the league's top player after posting 60 points in 39 games, while Geekie posted 35 goals and 42 assists in 66 regular season games with the Winnipeg ICE this season. He's also got six goals and nine assists in 14 postseason games.
"We've got a good talent base that's coming, and not only that, we're going to pick two really good players at six and 12," Armstrong said. "It's going to be an exciting time for the Yotes."
One of the things that Armstrong said is so exciting for the team is just how many assets he and his staff have to work with. In addition to 12 selections this year, the Coyotes own 25 total picks in 2024 and 2025, including four second-rounders in each of those respective drafts.
That alone offers a little flexibility, whether that marks the ability to draft a high number of players, or even possibly leverage those assets to move up and select a little higher. Armstrong in fact used that tactic just last year, trading their then-27th pick and two second-rounders to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the 11th overall pick, which was used to select Geekie.
"We'll look at every single avenue we can to improve our team, and I think with the amount of picks that we have -- we have four seconds next year and four seconds the year after -- we can use those to accelerate our picks that we have this year," Armstrong said. "There's going to be a lot of options on the board for us. We'll go through every single option to figure out what's best for us, but it's nice to sit at the draft and have the ability to move up and get your guy."
Regardless, the Coyotes are positioned to acquire a great player in an incredibly deep draft, especially considering they have picked higher than sixth overall just three times since 2010 (3rd in 2022, 5th in 2018, and 3rd in 2015).
Recent selections at sixth overall include David Jiricek (2022), Simon Edvinsson (2021), Jamie Drysdale (2020), and Mortiz Seider (2019). A look at 12th overall picks also yield plenty of reason for optimism, considering the recent picks of Cole Sillinger (2021), Anton Lundell (2020), Matthew Boldy (2019), and Noah Dobson (2018).
Armstrong helped rebuild the St. Louis Blues as their Director of Amateur Scouting and Assistant General Manager en route to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
"What changed our franchise was going to the draft and getting one-to-two good players every year over a steady amount of seasons," he said. "That was a difference maker that allowed us to win a championship, and that's how we approach it.
"From the moment I've come in, I've always said just get one good player, stack him on another good player, stack him on another good player, and eventually you're going to have a championship team."
Armstrong went on to say that his approach is generally to select the best available player when the team is on the clock, though if he and his staff are deadlocked on two players, "you go to the position that you need."
With 37 picks over the next three years and 47 selections over the next four, there is plenty of wiggle room to get those targeted players.
"If you can't get excited about that, then you're in the wrong business," Armstrong said. "This is going to be a huge draft for us, and we're going to get extremely focused and dialed in here over the next few weeks, and now's the fun time.
"You get to make decisions and you get to pick some great players."
