Arizona Coyotes select defenseman Mitchell Miller with 111th pick

The Arizona Coyotes have selected defenseman Mitchell Miller with the 111th pick of the 2020 NHL Draft.

The Coyotes had to wait until the fourth round before making their first selection of the 2020 NHL Draft and they decided to select right-handed blueliner, Mitchell Miller.

The 18-year-old most recently played for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL, a league that is becoming more and more recognized for producing future NHL talent over the past few years.

During 44 regular-season games in 2019/20, Miller registered eight goals and 33 total points - making him the fifth-highest points producer on the Storm and the highest point-producing defenseman by some margin, with his nearest challenger having just 18 points.

Miller has decent size at 5-foot-11, 194lbs and being a right-handed shot undoubtedly makes him valuable to the Coyotes’ system, with his sense of timing being highlighted as some of his better qualities.

Miller is a prospect that will require some development and he will be taking his talents to the University of North Dakota for the 2020/21 season, where he will be able to play against some higher-quality opposition and work with other NHL prospects such as Jacob Bernard-Docker and Jake Sanderson (both drafted by the Ottawa Senators).

His offensive upside will be a bonus for the Coyotes organization, but his defensive tools will be where they hope the Sylvania, Ohio native can continue to develop his game further before eventually making the jump to the professional level.

The selection of a defenseman might be somewhat surprising for Arizona Coyotes fans, with a distinct lack of forward prospect depth outside of the likes of Matias Maccelli and Jan Jenik, but Miller has the tools to develop into a promising player and his development will be watched closely at North Dakota.