The Arizona Coyotes had a chance to draft Shane Wright, but went with Logan Cooley.
The Arizona Coyotes went into tonight’s draft with a plan. Even with Shane Wright falling out of the top two, they went with their guy, selecting Logan Cooley.
Found our guy.
With the third overall pick in the 2022 #NHLDraft, we’ve selected Logan Cooley. Welcome to Arizona, Logan! pic.twitter.com/rz3UdYmAcz
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) July 7, 2022
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native spent last with the United States Development Program. In 51 games with the National U18 Team, he had 27 goals and 48 assists. He also played 24 games with the UNSTDP Juniors team and had 13 goals and 23 assists. He also played with Team USA at the World Junior Championship under 18 tournament, and in six games, he had three goals and seven assists.
Arizona desperately needs offense, and Cooley definitely provides that. He has shown that he can score and has been compared to the Coyotes’ own Clayton Keller.
Cooley is committed to the University of Minnesota next season, which fits with the Coyotes’ rebuild plans. The Coyotes aren’t expected to be competitive next year, so Cooley should have plenty of time to grow and develop.
Cooley is a bit on the smaller size and is listed at 5’10”. But unlike many smaller players, he has some muscle and is listed as 181 pounds.