NHL analyst Pronman remains optimistic on Coyotes’ Dylan Strome

A year after ranking Arizona Coyotes prospects No. 2 in the NHL, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has the franchise sliding in his 2018 farm system rankings.

The drop in his rankings is due to Pronman admitting to being “bearish on some of the players they’ve picked recently.” More than that, the prospect list under consideration no longer includes the likes of Clayton Keller and Christian Fischer, who were among Arizona’s top seven point scorers and are no longer considered prospects after each playing more than 25 games last season.

Interestingly enough, Pronman still holds promise when it comes to one of the more divisive topics among Coyotes fans: the outlook for center prospect Dylan Strome.

Pronman lists the 21-year-old as the only “high-end prospect” remaining in the Coyotes’ system.

It may seem like Dylan Strome has been around forever, but he’s only three years out from his draft, was one of the best players in the AHL last season and was good in his late season call-up to the Coyotes. His skill and particularly his hockey sense can take over a game. He’s a big center who is a fantastic playmaker who thinks the game in a unique way. Strome also has a good shot, and when he gets into the offensive zone, he can be a threat to score in multiple ways. He needs to be tougher in battles, and his foot-speed will never be a selling point, but he’s slowly and steadily getting better.

Strome, the 2015 third overall pick, has struggled to live up to expectations. In 50 games with the Tucson Roadrunners a year ago, he scored 22 goals to go with 31 assists in AHL play.

After the Coyotes sent him to the minors following the second game of the 2017-18 season, he returned to the NHL club in late November for a stint through mid-December, then closed the year with the Coyotes from mid-March until the end of the year. Strome scored points in six of those final 10 games.

After Strome, there are a lot of unknown talents among Arizona’s prospects.

Fifth overall pick in 2018, center Barrett Hayton, gets the nod as Arizona’s only “very good NHL prospect,” while wing Nick Merkley, defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, wing Tyler Steenbergen and defenseman Kyle Capobianco round out what Pronman calls “legit NHL prospects.”

A number of those players rank among the non-established prospects who could help the 2018-19 version of the Coyotes, writes Pronman.

Strome should make the team out of camp and could play a decent role for the Coyotes right away. Merkley and Capobianco are close and if they’re not Coyotes out of camp, they could be solid call-up options when injuries arise, specifically Merkley. (Trevor) Murphy and (Ilya) Lyubushkin could help out at the bottom of the Coyotes roster.

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