Top 25 under 25: Kyle Capobianco Faces Stiff Competition as Defensive Prospect at #24

#24 – Kyle Capobianco - Defense (Left)

Where Did He Come From? Third Round Draft Pick, 2015

Rank in last year’s 21 under 21? #17

Has He Played in the NHL: No

About Player:

A third-round pick in 2015, Capobianco faces quite the challenge to become a regular starter for the Coyotes. As a left-handed defenseman, the Ontario native will be forced to battle for ice time at the same position as Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, and Jakob Chychrun, as well as other more recently acquired blue-line prospects like Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

Capobianco has spent the last four seasons with a struggling Sudbury Wolves team in the OHL, where he dressed for more than 250 games. An offensively-gifted defenseman, Capobianco scored 27 goals and 114 points in his career, including a career-best 47 points in 65 games last year, helping the Wolves to their first playoff berth since 2014.

The 6-foot-1, 19-year-old also plays with some physicality as well. In each of his last three seasons, he tallied over 50 minutes in the box, setting a career high last year by spending 66 minutes in the sin-bin.

What Does the Future Hold?

Entering his first full season as a pro, Capobianco will be a bit of an unknown thanks to the lack of surrounding talent on his junior team. In his 254 career OHL games, Capobianco suffered a -115 plus/minus.

If he can hold up in his own zone, the former Canadian U-18 Team member will have plenty of chances to create offensive in the offensive zone and on the power play, giving Arizona another solid puck-moving blue liner to keep an eye on in the coming year.