Could the Coyotes Trade the Third Overall Pick?

The Arizona Coyotes were the losers of the NHL draft lottery. After finishing with the second worst record in the league this past season, they were bestowed the third pick thanks to the Edmonton Oilers winning the lottery despite their third worst record.

Today, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney held a press conference, and, interestingly enough, said he’d be willing to deal away this draft selection.

According to the Coyotes Twitter handle, Maloney had this to say; “The intrigue starts with the third pick and that’s our pick. It’s exciting for us.”

Maloney says that three NHL teams have reached out to him regarding the pick and the Coyotes are “open for business” fielding offers.

Obviously, the pick would come with a hefty price tag, as Maloney acknowledged. Many have projected the Coyotes to select Dylan Strome, a center from the Erie Otters, with this selection though others such as Lawson Crouse and Noah Hanifin are certainly in play.

Several teams are without a first round selection this year, and one has to wonder if it was a few of those teams that reached out to Maloney. The teams without a first round choice this year are the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks. Most lost their selection due to trades this season.

The Coyotes need upgrades on offense, and that’s likely what they would demand for their top pick. If it is one of the teams without a pick, some targets could be the Rangers’ Rick Nash and Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp, both rumored to be on the trade market this summer.

Kevin Paul Dupont from the Boston Globe has some interesting speculation that the Boston Bruins, who have the last pick of the lottery teams, could be willing to trade Milan Lucic as a part of a package for the third pick.

More than anything, the Coyotes need depth at center and they might be best off just waiting for Strome with the third pick and having him on their NHL roster.

It remains to be seen what the Coyotes will do, but this was the first talk of them moving the pick. It certainly creates some fascinating trade proposal ideas from all the experts on Twitter, and it adds some intrigue to the draft potentially for teams who otherwise do not have a pick.