Coyotes select Artem Duda with 36th overall pick

The Arizona Coyotes may have traded two of their second-round picks yesterday, but that doesn't mean they are completely off the board. They still have two early second-round picks, and with their first selection of the day, they chose defenseman Artem Duda.

Duda is a 6'1" 181-pound defenseman from Moskva, Russia. He split last season between Krasnaya Armiya Moskva in the MHL, Zvezda Moskva, and CSKA Moskva U18, with most of his time in the MHL. In 52 games he had 14 goals and 27 in the regular season and exploded in the playoffs with five goals and 12 assists in 18 games.

Duda has solid international experience, which will hopefully benefit him. He won silver at the 2020-21 Under-18 World Junior Championship and won gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

This is the second defenseman the Coyotes have drafted this draft. The team has a lot of needs, but defensive prospects is definitely an area of concern.