Coyotes Add Eight Players to Mix on Draft's Second Day

DALLAS --The Coyotes made a couple of trades on the draft floor inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday morning, parlaying the six picks they had into eight.
"It's always exciting when you get a lot of picks," General Manager John Chayka said. "We got a lot of players that our scouts had a lot of passion for. Now it's up to them to take the next step."

Arizona made nine selections total for a second consecutive draft. Before leaving Dallas they snagged three forwards, four defensemen and two goalies.
"To get centers, to get elite, No. 1 defensemen, to get goalies, it's tough to find those guys so you've got to draft them," Chayka said. "We'll keep stockpiling. We know that if you play the odds, eventually they turn in your favor."
After picking Barrett Hayton fifth overall in the first round on Friday, the Coyotes had to wait until the 55th pick on Saturday to select again. With that pick, Arizona chose 6-foot-6 Canadian defenseman
Kevin Bahl
, who played the past two seasons for Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League.
"He's well coordinated for a kid that big and he's got a mean streak to him," Director of Amateur Scouting Tim Bernhardt said. "For a big guy, he moves pretty well and his mobility is only going to get better ... He's a real hard-to-play-against player and you need those types. We have some smaller defensemen coming and he just brings us some real good balance."
Bahl, who has worked with Coyotes Skating Coach Dawn Braid, said hockey was not his first choice as a child in terms of sports. He originally played soccer but gave it up after a nasty head-to-head collision left him with a bloodied nose. It was then he and his family opted to let him try hockey.
Being drafted in the second round was a surreal experience, he said.
"You can't describe it with words," Bahl said. "Your destiny is being chosen. You just can't describe it."

Ten picks later, at No. 65, Arizona selected
Jan Jenik
, a winger from the Czech Republic, who is believed to be the youngest player taken in the draft. Jenik was born Sept. 15, 2000. Had he been born one day later, he would not have been eligible for this year's draft.
"It's an amazing feeling and I'm very happy and excited to play in Arizona," Jenik said. "I love hockey so I enjoy every moment."
Jenik said he tries to model his game after former NHL star Pavel Datsyuk, whose style of backchecking and hockey sense he most admires.
"He's got a lot of work to do physically," Bernhardt said. "He has really good sense and he's utlra-competitive. Those are two things we really like in hockey players and he's got them both in spades. Everybody we talked to, his coaches, the first thing they talk about is his competitiveness. If anything this kid has to tone it down a little bit because sometimes his emotions and his competitive nature can get the best of him on the ice. There's lots of upside potential there."

Not long after taking Jenik, Arizona chose American defenseman
Ty Emberson
with the 73rd overall pick.
Emberson is a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin who will play collegiately for the Badgers next season after spending the past two seasons playing for the U.S. National Development Team. He thrived as a penalty killer in the program.
"He's a real solid, right-shot defenseman," Bernhardt said. "There's nothing fancy about this guy, he just goes out there and plays. He can step up and hit guys, he makes a good first pass. Again, he's not an overly flashy offensive guy, but he can contribute ... He's going to a real good program at Wisconsin and he'll have time there to develop, so we like the way it all sets up."

Emberson wants to work on his quickness as he prepares for what he hopes will be a journey to the NHL.
"I definitely shut down the 'D' zone very well, but I can also contribute on the offensive end," Emberson said. "I put 100 percent out on the ice every night and I like to play a physical game. So, every night I go out there and I'll try to get the win."
The Coyotes were supposed to have picked again right away at No. 74, but Chayka traded that pick to Chicago for picks Nos. 87 and 142. He later traded the No. 87 pick to San Jose for picks Nos. 114 and 145.
With the 114th pick, Arizona snatched Russian goalie
Ivan Prosvetov
, who played the past two seasons in North America. Last season he notched a 19-9-1 record and a 2.90 goals-against average for Youngstown in the United States Hockey League.
"He's still raw, but last year he was super raw," Bernhardt said. "The kid has unbelievable flexibility and is really athletic. We like the piece of clay that's there to work with ... We like his swagger. We think that's important for goalies. And he's very anxious to keep going in his career. He came over here (from Russia) because he wants to get to the NHL. He said the reason he left Russia is because young goalies just become backups over there."
The Coyotes went back-to-back on drafting Youngstown (USHL) players when they grabbed American defenseman
Michael Callahan
with the 142nd pick. Callahan is from Franklin, Mass.
"He's a 6-foot-2, steady defenseman that moves pucks and jumps in at the opportune time," Bernhardt said. "The more you watched him the more you kept walking away going 'This guy is a real solid contributor.'"
Callahan, who was a member of the USHL's All-Rookie Team in 2017-18, is headed to Providence College next season to refine his game.
Three picks after drafting Callahan, the Coyotes selected their fourth defenseman of the day when they called out Canadian
Dennis Busby
's name.
The Coyotes scouted Busby when he was a 16-year-old and decided he was a player they needed to keep an eye on. Unfortunately, Busby injured a collarbone at training camp for the Flint Firebirds (OHL) last season and played only two games all season.
"He could have played the last three or four games of the season but they decided not to play him because ... it didn't make sense to send him out there," Bernhardt said. "... In the fifth round, he's a guy we kind of targeted because we felt there was really good value there."
With their penultimate pick, the 158th overall, the Coyotes added goalie
David Tendeck
, a Canadian who played the past three seasons for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. Tendeck, a left-handed netminder, won 25 of 48 games and posted a .912 save percentage last season in his first as a starter for Vancouver.

"Our scouts had him rated much higher than where we got him so we decided that even though we had (taken) a goaltender (Prosvetov), with thought it was a really good value there," Bernhardt said.
And last, but not least, the Coyotes created a global buzz when they drafted forward
Liam Kirk
with the 189th pick.
Per the NHL, Kirk is the first English-born player who was entirely trained in England to be picked in the NHL Draft.
Bernhardt said Kirk's natural skills are impressive.
"Our Finnish scout, Max Kolu, went and saw him and came away saying, 'Yeah, this guy's a pretty good player," Bernhardt said. "... We interviewed him at the Combine and talked with him, and he's definitely ready to come over (to North America). He wants to pursue and take his game to the highest level that he can take it to. Kudos to him for stepping up. You can see that he's a determined young man."
Kirk, who did not attend the draft, thanked the Coyotes via Twitter.
"A dream come true!" Kirk wrote, in part. "Huge honour to be drafted to the Arizona Coyotes organisation."