They aren't trading Cooley lol. They pick right after Montreal and are pretty much guaranteed a similarly good prospect to what's available to the Habs

But they get both in this case...

Yes but none of those prospects at that range are as good as Cooley

This decision won’t come for 2+ more years. Cooley is about to enter his second season with Gophers…so Arizona can own his rights until 2026 (or 2027 with 5th year).

I think, to get Arizona to bite now, another significant piece would have to be thrown in…maybe the Florida pick or good prospect (or both). Maybe…

MTL 1st (#5)
FLA 1st (#31)
Sean Farrell (or similar)

You’d pretty much have to let Arizona “win” the trade as face-saving measure. They are also losing John Farinacci this summer and don’t want to start a trend with prospects avoiding signing there (like Quebec, Ottawa in 1990s).

Do we agree the 2 prospects at that range are Smith & Michkov?

Cooley in his draft year:

NTDP Stats (51 games - 27 goals - 48 assists)

Will Smith:

NTDP Stats (60 games - 51 goals - 76 assists)

Michkov:

HK/SKA (KHL) Stats (30 games - 9 goals - 11 assists)

Can you explain why Cooley is better than guys who produced more than him at the same age?

I understand what you are saying. I was simply implying that since they will have to wait anyway (probably for the team to be sold) they can wait for Michkov and having him associated with the team as an asset will probably push up the sales price.

I think they win on the strength of the 2 players alone. Will Smith is bigger and he crushed Cooley's stats from his draft year.

Michkov is basically playing in the AHL, for the worst team in the AHL, and is producing at a shocking pace.

No I don't agree those 2 prospects will be there. I think one is almost certainly gone in the top 4, probably Smith.

I also think only looking at points is a major flaw in your reasoning. Both Smith and Michkov have a lot of work to do on their defensive play whereas Cooley's defensive game is viewed as strongly as his offensive game. Cooley also took strides this year and was incredible in his freshman year at College as well as the World Juniors.

Yes... One will go at 4 and one will go at 5... Hence saying, "they are in the range".

It's often said, you can team defence but you cannot teach offence.

Both Smith & Michkov are at least in a conversation to be as good or better offensively than Cooley.

So to say there is no chance that the Coyotes entertain this trade is silly, especially since they tried to sign him and he turned them down to go back to College.

I mean sure, one will almost certain be available but I highly doubt both. I also think you greatly undervalue how much Cooley has improved over the last year. Lets take Fantilli as an example. Fantilli has a late 2004 birthday which is why he was not part of last years draft and also why he was playing in the NCAA this year unlike Smith. Fantilli had an incredible freshman year in the NCAA, even better than Cooley (who is only 5 months older than him). A year ago both players played in the USHL; Cooley had a ppg of 1.5ppg and Fantilli had a 1.37ppg. This year Smith had a 2.1ppg pace in the USHL. By that logic Smith should be going 1st or 2nd OA this year instead of Fantilli. However you will be hard pressed to find someone who agrees with you because Fantilli, like Cooley improved drastically this year offensively.

As for teaching defense, technically yes that is true. Offense is generally speaking more natural skill and defense is something that is learned over time from playing against that natural offensive skill. However it is still very difficult to learn defensive skills and some people just have a knack for him due to having exceptional positional awareness. I think Anton Lundell is a great example of a player who is naturally gifted defensively and made a big impact immediately, whereas a lot of the other players from his draft and even the year prior with higher offensive skill (Kaapo Kakko who also played in Liiga) are struggling because their pure offensive skill advantage just caught up to them once they reached the NHL.

So it seems we agree that if Smith is available at 5th OA (which is easier to evaluate than Michkov), it's not completely outside the realm of possibility that the Coyotes would be willing to trade Cooley for Smith plus a sweetener.

You made it sound previously that this could never happen, so are you walking that back or do you still think Smith for Cooley could never happen?

It would have to be a pretty relevant sweetener. A bird in hand is worth more than 2 in the bush. Smith will be going to College next year if he shows to have an explosive season on the same level Cooley did then sure they may be similar but as of right now I would not consider a swap if I was Arizona

I understand all that, but it would be a PR nightmare for them if they just sold Cooley for just Michkov, Smith or Carlsson. They have bigger fish to fry right now. So unless someone comes to them with a deal they can sell their fans as a slam-dunk W….I think they stand pat.

[Snickering] ... A PR Nightmare in Arizona? Great, something new and exciting for the Coyotes!

As a Devils fan, I feel for them. Look at the pre-Lou history of our organization and it’s probably worse. 14 seasons, 5 owners, 4 team names, 3 cities, 0 playoff wins and plenty of “arena lease” issues.

(Post-Lou’s arrival. Playoffs in 20-of-23 years, 7 trips to conference finals, 5 trips to Stanley cup finals and 3 cups.).