With the 11th overall pick(!!!!) the Coyotes select Victor Soderstrom

It was not only tough to say who the Arizona Coyotes would draft at 14th overall, it was tough to say if they would draft someone at all. There was definitely a strong possibility that the Coyotes would trade their pick. Instead the Coyotes flipped the script, trading up to grab the 11th overall pick and selecting defenseman Victor Soderstrom.

Five for Howling selected Soderstrom in the mock draft noting:

Soderstrom is a puck moving defenseman that can play a two-way game while winning battles, is a great skater, and has excellent positioning. In 44 games with Brynas he has 4 goals and 3 assists and has been getting decent minutes. He has a few twenty-plus minute games and has been averaging over seventeen minutes per game. He gets played on the power play and penalty kill, impressive for a seventeen-year-old.

At the time we thought that Soderstrom was the best player available at 14th. Clearly General Manager John Chayka not only agreed but he didn’t want to risk him not being available.

The Coyotes’ biggest strength may be their defensive depth. They were were sixth in goals against and had the third best penalty kill. With this pick the Coyotes not only shore up that strength, particularly on the right side, but it allows Arizona the chance to potentially make some moves with their defensemen.

In order to move up to tenth the Arizona Coyotes sent the 45th overall pick to the Philadelphia Flyers along with their 14th.