Coyotes wrap up their draft with Cal Thomas at 171st overall

With the 171st pick, their last pick in the 2021 Draft, the Arizona Coyotes selected left-shooting defenseman Cal Thomas.

Thomas, a native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, spent time with three different teams during the 2020/21 season - most notably a nine-game stint with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and his hometown high school team of Maple Grove High.

With the Stampede, Thomas scored a goal and added a further assist while he put up five goals and 26 points in just 23 games in the American high school system.

The 6-foot, 174lbs blueliner is committed to playing for the Hockey East program at the University of Vermont Catamounts from the 2022/23 season, meaning he will likely spend the 2021/22 campaign playing in the USHL in anticipation of heading to college a year later.

It appears as if the Coyotes have landed a player later in the draft than when he could have been taken, with The Athletic’s Corey Pronman’s previous mock draft (paywall) seeing Thomas land with the Boston Bruins at 149th overall in the fifth round.

Barring any sudden surprises, Thomas is the final selection of the Arizona Coyotes for the 2021 Draft, which sees general manager Bill Armstrong add four forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie to his previously bare prospect pool.