ARIZONA COYOTES

NHL Draft is ignition point for development of Coyotes prospects

Jun 25, 2018, 6:19 AM

Barrett Hayton, of Canada, puts on a jersey after being selected by the Phoenix Coyotes during the ...

Barrett Hayton, of Canada, puts on a jersey after being selected by the Phoenix Coyotes during the NHL hockey draft in Dallas, Friday, June 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)(Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

(Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars senior advisor Les Jackson was discussing the many attributes of Coyotes director of amateur scouting Tim Bernhardt when talk turned to evaluating teams’ drafts.

Draft grades are a recent ill of sports journalism, as imprecise as the mock drafts that precede them. The only fair grade to hand out in most cases is an incomplete.

“You take some of these kids and they have to go through a lot of people before they make it to the NHL,” Jackson said. “You have to be patient, you have to be supportive, you have to give them direction. Then, when they move into pro, you still have to be patient  because a lot of those kids don’t look very good in their first year in pros.

“There are very few that have stepped right in, so you have to have a good development coach who is patient with them and you have to have a manager that is patient with them. You have to have scouts who understand how they should look in those different areas.”

After years of running lean on the scouting and development sides, the Coyotes finally feel they have the resources and people in place to give their draft picks the best chance to make it to, and succeed, in the NHL.

The latest crop of prospects will be indoctrinated into the Coyote way this week when the team holds its annual prospect development camp at Gila River Arena from Monday to Friday. All nine of the Coyotes’ 2018 draft picks, as well as recent draft picks/signings such as defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Cam Dineen, forwards Tyler Steenbergen, Mackenzie Entwistle and goaltenders Merrick Madsen and Erik Kallgren are expected to attend.

“These kids put in a lot of work to get to this point. I don’t want to downplay that,” said Coyotes assistant general manager Steve Sullivan, who is also the Tucson Roadrunners GM and used to be the organization’s development coach. “Their families have been driving them early mornings, spending a lot of money and resources to allow kids to play the game they love and they have all had great coaches to guide them, but now they know what their path is. We’re going to be with them for a few years, at least; get our hands on them and be able to help the process and start to guide them.”

The development camp will be run by Sullivan, forward prospect coach Mark Bell and defensemen prospect coach Alex Henry (the Coyotes are in the process of hiring a new goaltender prospect coach), but Sullivan said it’s a team affair when it comes to player progression.

“It starts with Rick Tocchet and works its way down,” he said. “It’s a group effort, understanding what we feel are the most important skills to play for the Coyotes and Rick Tocchet. Every coach has criteria of what’s important that the players we draft have to fit.

“Now is when we can tinker with every single player and make their development individually based. The nutrition part, the sleep part, figuring out what type of player they are and then we figure out their strengths and weaknesses and put a plan in place. We also figure out what their gifts are and polish that off too, because that’s probably what they will hang their hat on in the NHL.”

Coyotes strength and conditioning coach J.P. Major plays an enormous role in crafting player specific strength and agility training, along with nutrition and sleep habits.

“The ‘99s and 2000s, they like to stay up until 1:30, 2 every night,” Sullivan said, laughing. “We make sure it’s clear how important sleep is and show them the research and show them how much bad impact those old habits can have.”

The Coyotes don’t expect prospect development camp to provide any definitive information on their players. For the veteran prospects, it’s a refresher course in the team’s culture. For the newbies who were just drafted last weekend in Dallas, it’s an indoctrination.

Bernhardt said the development process has improved exponentially over the last two decades.

“Development camps only started about 15, 20 years ago,” he said. “It used to be you’d draft them, they’d show up at training camp, and you’d see where you’re at in two years when you sign them or you don’t. Now, everybody is hands on. It’s just the way the game has gone and it’s for the better.

“We try to get them on the right path, introduce them to Arizona, introduce them to pro hockey and introduce them to the people that are going to be working with them for the next two to four years.”

NHL prospects have clearly benefitted from all the added attention, but they bring their own advantages, Sullivan and Bernhardt said. Thanks to innovation in sports science and a greater emphasis on development at younger ages, prospects come in light years ahead of the previous generation.

“They’re better athletes; they’re better hockey players,” Sullivan said. “No disrespect to my generation at all but just look at the footage. There’s no way you can tell me a kid drafted in the 80s or 90s is as good.”

COYOTES PROSPECT DEVELOPMENT CAMP SCHEDULE

  • Monday: 2 to 5:45 p.m.
  • Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
  • Thursday: 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
  • Friday: Intra-squad game at 6 p.m.

You can view the full roster here.

All practices and the game will be held at Gila River Arena. They are free and open to the public.

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