Neither the Edmonton Oilers nor Buffalo Sabres are going to trade their top picks at the 2015 NHL Draft, but things start to get interesting with the Arizona Coyotes and the No. 3 pick.
Coyotes general manager Don Maloney told Sarah McLellan of AZCentral Sports that multiple teams have called inquiring about the pick.
Earlier this month, Maloney told reporters at a press conference he was open to trading the No. 3 pick.
“We have holes. Nobody is going to give us good players without giving up something, and that’s why we are certainly open for business, whether it’s the Chicago pick (30th overall), our pick in the second round,” Maloney said. “We’ve got two firsts, two seconds, two thirds. We have two firsts next year. We have lots of good assets that we can use to better our team and we’re certainly not against using it in the right deal, keeping in mind that our long-term goal is to have a championship here in Arizona.
“Those deals start being discussed now, and they end up, if there’s a deal there, it’ll be on the draft floor. The idea that we’re going to trade that pick outright for a player to help us next year, I think that’s remote, but you never know. It’s probably more likely we trade down if we don’t take the pick. So we’ll see.”
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If the Coyotes hold onto the third pick it’s unclear who they’d select. Many feel they’d take Erie Otters Centre Dylan Strome, but others feel Mitch Marner of the London Knights or Boston College’s Noah Hanifin will be selected.
In Sportsnet’s mock drafts, Jeff Merek, Sam Cosentino and Damien Cox had them picking Strome, while Gare Joyce had them picking Marner.
The NHL and NHLPA announced Tuesday the salary cap for the 2015-16 season will be $71.4 million. The Coyotes could be one of the busiest teams this off-season seeing as they’re one of three teams that needs to spend money to get to the new cap floor of $52.8 million. As it sits right now, the Coyotes have to spend $18 million to hit the floor.