Arizona Coyotes select Dylan Strome with 3rd pick in NHL draft

Their early spot in the NHL draft order was certainly coveted — two serious offers were issued — and the Coyotes could have pounced on a deal that would have landed them NHL-ready players to immediately improve a roster lagging behind the pace in the Western Conference.

But what emerged as more of a pressing need to the Coyotes was an elite center with the potential to headline a franchise one day.

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And since none of the proposals on the table included a center of that caliber, the Coyotes held onto the No. 3 pick and selected Dylan Strome during the first round of Friday's draft in Sunrise, Fla.

"If we wanted to give up Number 3, we could have done a big deal with multiple players involved and good players," General Manager Don Maloney said. "But our goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and so we said, 'Let's continue to build this thing for the future.'"

The addition of Strome is appealing. Last season, the 18-year-old led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring with 129 points — 45 goals — in 68 games with the Erie Otters. Not only have the Coyotes been short on options up the middle, but they've also been sorely lacking the dynamic potential Strome offers at that position.

"All he's done his whole career, from the time he was a PeeWee, is lead the teams and leagues in scoring and win championships," Maloney said. "So everything we felt is there to add a key building block to this franchise."

Strome's skating needs to improve, and some have wondered just how much his success was influenced by playing alongside Connor McDavid — a generational talent who went first overall to the Oilers before the Sabres scooped up the consensus No. 2, Jack Eichel.

"I'm going to try to prove them wrong," Strome said. "I obviously want to help out the team that selected me as soon as possible, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to be there."

Despite his upside, Strome doesn't offer a quick fix since the Coyotes anticipate him requiring more time to develop.

The draft floor seemed the perfect backdrop for Maloney to retool his current group, and a few splashes were made with the Bruins trading up-and-coming defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Flames for draft picks and winger Milan Lucic to the Kings for three pieces. The Sabres also snagged center Ryan O'Reilly from the Avalanche in a five-player swap.

The draft continues today with Rounds 2-7, and the Coyotes have six more picks, but they weren't able to cash in on the maneuvering done Friday.
They had a few opportunities to move the 30th pick, the one they received from the Blackhawks in the Antoine Vermette trade, but were excited to find Nicholas Merkley still available — a winger they had at No. 13 on their draft board who is quick, crafty and tough.

"Let's continue to add top assets, young assets, and then figure out a way to fill in the roster next year with whatever trades we can find and free agency and go from there," Maloney said.

Trade chatter is still ongoing, and the team's first pick in the second round (32) could draw some interest. And while the Coyotes want to compete for a playoff spot next season — a transformation that will no doubt require some work — they are committed to the rebuild they set in motion during last season's miserable fall to second-to-last and that became clear with their decisions Day 1 at the draft.

"I'm not going to do short-term deals just to give us this pretend look to be better," Maloney said. " … The fans have suffered through last year. We're getting there we're slowly getting there. We'd like to accelerate the process, but we're also not going to pass up in our opinion potential top, front-line people for shorter-term goals. It's a balance. We know it's a balance of building the future and putting a pretty competitive team on the ice. That's a work in progress."

The top 10 draft picks

1. Edmonton, Connor McDavid, C, Erie (OHL).

2. Buffalo, Jack Eichel, C, Boston U.

3. Arizona, Dylan Strome, C, Erie (OHL).

4. Toronto, Mitch Marner, C, London (OHL).

5. Carolina, Noah Hanifin, D, Boston College.

6. New Jersey, Pavel Zacha, C, Sarnia (OHL).

7. Philadelphia, Ivan Provorov, D, Brandon Wheat (WHL).

8. Columbus, Jack Werenski, D, Michigan.

9. San Jose, Timo Meier, RW, Halifax (QMJHL).

10. Colorado, Mikko Rantanen, RW, TPS (Finland).