Coyotes’ CEO Anthony LeBlanc confident heading into new ownership’s first NHL Draft
Jun 24, 2014, 4:27 PM | Updated: 4:27 pm
The Phoenix (soon to be Arizona) Coyotes are intently gearing up for the 2014 NHL Draft. The ‘Yotes have eight selections in this year’s event, including the 12th overall pick in the first round, which will be conducted Friday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Coyotes co-owner, president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc is very confident that the team will secure a talented player with the 12th pick.
“It’s a relatively deep draft, and (GM Don Maloney) has said it, at number 12, we’re going to get a really solid player,” LeBlanc told Doug and Wolf Tuesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Interestingly, if you look at what we did last year, we had the number 12 pick and we were able to pick up Max Domi, and if you listen to what Don has been saying over the last few weeks, it’s going to really difficult for him not to make the team this year.
“It’s exciting when you can see that late in the draft, you can pick up such a talent. We’re really quite excited about what we’re going to be able to do this year.”
NHL.com draft experts have the Coyotes selecting one of three European wingers — Danish-born LW Nikolaj Ehlers, Finnish RW Kaspari Kapanen or Swedish RW William Nylander.
The current Coyotes ownership group is heading into its first NHL Draft at the helm, but LeBlanc and his partners have no doubts about what Maloney and his staff will accomplish over the weekend.
“We’ve said it from the beginning, that they’re, we feel, the greatest hockey staff in the NHL,” he said. “We rely fully on their opinions and what they’re looking to do.”
