Coyotes look ahead to Larsson

Montreal—they have done it before and they will probably do it again. The Phoenix Coyotes who have been known to work on their own scouting has made a reach for a player. Unlike previous drafts the club did not reach too far with their selection of Oliver Ekman-Larsson who was ranked fourth amongst all European skaters.
The Coyotes did reach over fellow defenseman Jared Cowen and Europeans Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson and Olef Josephson (according to Central Scouting) to tab Larsson who is known as an offensive defenseman. The European Scouting service did mention they would have liked to have seen the 6-2 defender use his size a little more when he played.
 
PHN analysis; we considered Ekman Larsson for this pick during our final mock draft, but in the end thought Cowen might be the guy. There is a need for the player with the skills of Larsson on the Coyotes, but he is going to need time to develop. It seemed the Coyotes needed more immediate help and if they really wanted Larsson there is a chance they could have traded down and still picked him.   

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