With the 23rd Pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft the Arizona Coyotes Have Selected Pierre-Olivier Joseph From the Charlottetown Islanders in the (QMJHL)
About Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Joseph is the classic case of a defensive prospect that needs to mature but has all the elements to be an excellent defenseman in the NHL. He has outstanding hockey sense with a good acumen of where to go offensively and defensively. His only knock is that he needs to mature.
He’s currently 6 foot but only 160 pounds. A left shooting defenseman in the NHL will need to fill out before being able to make an impact.
He was the 27th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, tallying six goals and 39 points in 62 games with Charlottetown. His 39 points were the second-most on the team among defensemen. Twenty of his 39 points came on the power play and 17 of those points were assists which gave him the second-highest total on the team.
How do you like the desert, Pierre-Olivier Joseph? The @ArizonaCoyotes have themselves a new blueliner. #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/EXRU7iGvRq
— NHL (@NHL) June 24, 2017
THW Prospect Profile Excerpt:
Pierre-Olivier Joseph is the third-ranked player coming out of the QMJHL ahead of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Trailing only Nico Hischier and Maxime Comtois, Joseph is looking to be one of the first players from the Quebec league taken in June. A mobile defender, Joseph has become one of the more interesting names to watch during the draft process as there is very little consensus on where he will end up being picked.
As seen in the rankings above, Joseph ranged from the mid-first round all the way down to the late second-round. It’s a steep drop off from the best-case scenario to the seemingly worst-case scenario for Joseph, but that makes this year’s draft all the more interesting. When it comes down to it, Joseph looks like he’ll be more of a mobile, shutdown defender than an offensive threat at the next level, though he does have very good vision and he is adept to joining the rush and manning the point at the junior level.
Full player profile can be found here
How This Affects the Arizona Coyotes’ Plans
Joseph will add defensive depth for the Coyotes on the left side. He’s a leader, having been named an assistant captain with the Islanders and the Coyotes are not strong for blue line prospects. They have Dysin Mayo, Kyle Wood, Kyle Capobianco and Philip Samuelsson in their top-twenty, but none project higher than a C-grade by Hockey’s Future as prospects.
General Manager John Chayka called Joseph an aggressive-style player. He’s a prospect who competes hard game-in and game-out and is extremely smart. Chayka thinks that once Joseph puts on a bit of size and weight he’ll jump the next level and his ceiling is playing in all situations and about 25 minutes per night. He’s not nearly ready to go, being a few years out as a prospect, but the Coyotes understood that when they drafted him. Joseph is expected to attend the team’s prospect camp next week in the Valley.
Full Coyotes depth chart can be found here
Jim Parsons is a freelance writer who covers the Edmonton Oilers and news and rumors posts here at The Hockey Writers.
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