Arizona Coyotes select Logan Cooley at No. 3 in 2022 NHL Draft
The Arizona Coyotes selected center Logan Cooley of Pittsburgh with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft on Thursday.
Cooley, 5-foot-10, 180 pounds who shoots left, has been with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and is scheduled to start his freshman year at the University of Minnesota in the fall.
"It still feels like a dream. It's definitely pretty crazy with all of the mixed emotions I have right now, but I'm super fired up to be a Coyote," Cooley said.
Cooley will play against Arizona State at the Multi-Purpose Arena on November 25-26.
He was the second-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting entering the draft, right behind Shane Wright, who went No. 4 to Seattle.
"It was a draft that no one really knew what was going to happen, so I was expecting something like this to actually happen. It was pretty crazy to see, but I'm happy I fell to the Coyotes and I'm super pumped to get started with them," Cooley said.
Cooley has drawn comparisons to Coyotes forward Clayton Keller due to his creativity and stickhandling abilities. He finished second on the NTDP with 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) in 51 games and scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) to help the U.S. take silver at the 2022 IIHF World Under-18 Championship this spring.
Cooley was the youngest player named to the U.S. roster for the 2022 World Junior Championship and recorded one assist in one game played before the tournament was postponed. He is the highest Pennsylvania-born player to be selected in an NHL Draft.
The first two selections were a milestone for Slovakian players. Montreal Canadiens selected winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick and the New Jersey Devils selected Simon Nemec with the second overall. Before those two selections, only one other Slovakian player was selected in the top five in NHL history with Marian Gaborik in 2000.
Scottsdale product Cutter Gauthier, a two-way forward, went No. 5 to the Philadelphia Flyers. Gauthier spent the last season with Cooley at the USNTDP and will be a freshman at Boston College in the fall.
The Coyotes traded up for the No. 11 pick to draft center Conor Geekie. In the trade, the San Jose Sharks received picks No. 27, 34, and 45.
Geekie, the fifth-ranked North American skater, put up 70 points (24 goals, 46 assists) in 63 games with Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League. The 6-foot-4, 190 pounds center is the brother of Seattle Kraken forward Morgan Geekie.
"I've kind of always had a dream to play there. I think the desert and the rebuild, I think I've kind of been through it a little bit. It's better weather than Winnipeg, I can tell you that," Geekie said.
The Coyotes earned the 29th overall pick from the Edmonton Oilers. The trade sent forward Zack Kassian to the Coyotes along with second and third round picks in future drafts, while the Oilers received the 32nd pick.
The Coyotes will retain all of Kassian’s contract with two years remaining and an average annual value of $3.2 million.
With the 29th pick, the Coyotes took defenseman Maveric Lamoureux. At 6-foot-7, 198 pounds, Lamoureux brings in considerable size. Lamoureux played for the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where he registered 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 54 games.
More: Arizona Coyotes announce regular season schedule for inaugural season at ASU
Following the draft, the draft picks will report to prospect development camp on July 10-15. On-ice sessions begin Monday, July 11, at Ice Den Scottsdale and are open to the public. The camp will conclude on Friday with a scrimmage at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The Coyotes will have five selections in rounds 2-7 tomorrow with the second round beginning at 8 a.m. NHL Network and ESPN+ will air the selections.
Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or 602-647-4122. Follow her on Twitter @jennarortiz.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes select Logan Cooley at No. 3 in 2022 NHL Draft
