Barrett Hayton was the 5th overall selection from the 2018 NHL Draft. For Coyotes fans that seems like a lifetime ago as Hayton has suffered from both mismanagement and injuries ever since. Last season was his healthiest since his post draft season and we saw growth as the season went along especially off the puck. He ended the season with a stat line of 10 goals and 24 points. In the offseason he focused on getting leaner and worked all offseason on that and his game, showing up to camp in noticeably great shape. And the effects of that have shown on ice as he’s easily been one of the Coyotes best forwards in the preseason putting up 6 points in 3 games headlined by a 1 goal 2 assist game in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. He looks noticeably faster and is playing with more confidence than I have seen since his days in the juniors. With the team the Coyotes are expected to put out this upcoming season Hayton should easily get top 6 minutes and some power play time leading to an increase in counting stats. But I think Haytons biggest leap will come in the form of his defensive play and overall off-the-puck play. He’s always shown high Hockey intelligence and with his improved confidence and speed that will allow him to be far more aggressive in his own end causing turnovers and havoc for the opposing team. I’m predicting a statline of 20G 25A 45P all while taking some of the more difficult assignments every night. Coyote fans will be thrilled with Hayton showing some of the reason he was taken as high as he was in 2018.
