Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley are set to go head-to-head at the NHL level for the first time tonight as the Coyotes face the Canadiens.
The Montreal Canadiens had a big decision to make back in 2022 when they held the first overall pick in the NHL Draft.
Ultimately, the Canadiens decided to select winger Juraj Slafkovsky, surprising all the fans at the Bell Centre where the draft was taking place.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Coyotes picked third overall and went in a slightly different direction picking center Logan Cooley.
The Canadiens and Coyotes opted for two different strategies. Montreal went with a more raw prospect that they believed due to his 6 '3'’ frame and impressive performance at the 2022 Olympics with Slovakia, had more potential than any other player projected to get picked in the draft.
Arizona on the other hand, opted to go with the player who arguably possessed the most speed and dynamic ability with the puck.
The question is what strategy has proven to be the right one? So far, it’s just too early to tell.
Slafkovsky started the 2022-23 season in the NHL before it was cut short due to a severe lower-body injury. He played a total of 39 games tallying four goals, six assists and 10 points.
Instead of joining the Coyotes right away last year, Cooley played a full season in the NCAA for the University of Minnesota where he was phenomenal posting 22 goals, 38 assists and 60 points in 39 games, putting his name in the Hobey Baker conversation.
This season Slafkovsky and Cooley are playing for their respective NHL teams and it’s clear who has been the better player thus far.
They have both played nine games and Cooley’s one goal and six assists far outweighs Slafkovsky’s one assist.
Cooley is also playing 16:52 minutes compared to Slafkovsky’s 14:19 minutes a game which shows the high confidence coach André Tourigny has in Cooley despite just being a rookie.
It will be interesting to see these two battle head-to-head tonight with more than just a game on the line.
Time will only tell whether the Canadiens or the Coyotes were right in their draft strategy, but so far it seems like the Coyotes are the team that not only went with the correct strategy but developed their top prospect properly through the virtue of patience.