ARIZONA, USA — Wednesday was NHL Draft Day, a day the Arizona Coyotes hope will produce the team's cornerstone for future seasons.
With two picks in the 1st round, at #6 and #12, the Yotes hope to improve the team that went from 57 points in the 2021-2022 season to 70 points last year.
With the sixth pick, the Coyotes selected Defenseman Dmitri Simashev, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 198-pound Russian.
His Yaroslavi Junior team had the best record in the MHL’s Western Conference and Simashev finished the year with a +22 rating.
The 18-year-old defenseman will try to become the youngest backliner for the Yotes.
With the 12th pick in the draft, a pick the Coyotes got from Ottawa in the Jacob Chychrun trade, the Yotes selected another Russian - Left Winger Daniil But. The 18-year-old old stands 6 foot 5, 203 pounds. He scored 18 goals with 14 assists in 32 games last season.
The Coyotes will have ten more picks Thursday in rounds 2-6 of the draft.
Before the draft, Coyotes President & CEO Xavier Gutierrez told reporters the team had identified a half dozen potential sites to construct a privately funded arena and entertainment district to revive the franchise’s last-ditch effort to stay in the Phoenix area.
Gutierrez said the sites they are looking at are all in the East Valley. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters last week that the Coyotes have until year-end to find a new arena location.
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