After initially announcing his intention to return to the University of Minnesota next season, top prospect Logan Cooley signed an entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes.
After initially announcing his intention to return to the University of Minnesota next season, top prospect Logan Cooley signed an entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes.
The tables have turned in Tempe. After announcing in May and repeating in July he plans to return to the University of Minnesota for his sophomore NCAA season, Logan Cooley signed with the Arizona Coyotes.
“We are thrilled to sign Logan to an NHL contract,” said Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong in a release. “Logan is an incredibly skilled player who had an excellent season with the Golden Gophers last year. He has established himself as one of the top prospects in the world.”
Signing a professional contract now makes Cooley ineligible to play NCAA hockey, where he was a Hobey Baker finalist last year and led his team to the Frozen Four Championship game. There was a feeling that Cooley had unfinished business at the NCAA level and that with everything going on around the Coyotes, it made sense for him to return to school for a sophomore year.
However, Cooley had a change of heart, and the Coyotes no longer have to wait to sign their potential future franchise center. His arrival in Arizona and departure from Minnesota will be felt on all sides.
The University of Minnesota is losing one of the two best players in college hockey from last season. While the Columbus Blue Jackets' third overall pick, Adam Fantilli, won the Hobey Baker, Cooley could have easily earned the honor over him. Cooley was the No. 1 center on the nation's No. 1 team for most of the season and finished second in the NCAA in scoring, with 22 goals and 60 points in 39 games.
Cooley's signing leaves St. Louis Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud as the only member of the best line in college hockey last season as well. The trio of Cooley with Toronto Maple Leaf Matthew Knies and Snuggerud on the wings wreaked havoc on the NCAA. Knies was the third finalist for the Hobey Baker, and Snuggerud was the most talked about snub.
Snuggerud was the finisher and play connector. Knies was the puck retriever and net-front menace. But Cooley was the driving force on the line – the straw that stirred the drink. Now with just Snuggerud left, the Golden Gophers will rely on him to be the catalyst for a lot of the offense on a team with high hope yet again for the upcoming season.
Incoming freshman Oliver Moore, drafted 19th overall in June, was slated to play behind Cooley and learn from the all-world prospect. With Cooley gone, he may now be asked to take on a bigger role with the Golden Gophers. The Chicago Blackhawks prospect is a very good player but would have benefited from playing behind Cooley. That kind of roster shuffling will occur throughout the Gophers lineup as Cooley’s departure forces everyone to step up.
For the Arizona Coyotes, it fills a direct hole at center for the squad and allows for the opposite shuffle to happen in their lineup.
Instead of Barrett Hayton being asked to play in the top center spot, Cooley could be good enough to step in alongside Clayton Keller immediately. It could give the Coyotes a truly effective top line. This allows Hayton to move down the lineup, where he will have a better opportunity to play to the best of his abilities rather than face the brunt of the attention from the opposing team’s top defensive pairs.
The combination of Keller and Cooley could be a dream for Arizona. Cooley’s playmaking could help Keller reach the 40-goal plateau, a mark he narrowly missed last season. Keller’s dynamic skill would allow Cooley more space to pick apart defensive structures away from the puck. They both have goal-scoring ability, and they both have the ability to exploit passing lanes with crisp passes. Whether it’s Nick Schmaltz or someone else on the other wing, the third member of their line will be living the dream as they won’t have to do much of the work with two high-level thinkers and play drivers on the line.
With Arizona likely missing the playoffs again next season, the most interesting on-ice storyline for the Yotes will be whether Cooley can challenge Chicago’s Connor Bedard for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. The rookie class is loaded next season, with Bedard and Fantilli leading the way while also featuring Knies, his former linemate. Devon Levi, Brandt Clarke, David Jiricek, Shane Wright and Luke Hughes could all factor into the conversation as well, making the 2023-24 rookie class potentially one of the most intriguing of all time.
The impact that Cooley coming out of college after initially deciding to stay will make waves across both college hockey and the NHL. The Hobey Baker and Calder races for next season are altered. The NCAA national championship picture has changed, and the Arizona Coyotes lineup will be given a facelift just by slotting everyone into more appropriate positions.