Coyotes 2022 Offseason Reviews: Barrett Hayton

In this week’s edition of the Arizona Coyotes 2021-22 offseason player reviews, we’ll take a look at forward Barrett Hayton. After being selected fifth overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, the Coyotes forward would spend the next two seasons struggling to produce and live up to the expectations the team hoped for. As a result, he would spend his first two seasons bouncing back and forth from the American Hockey League (AHL) to the NHL.

Entering this past season, Hayton had a target on his back to show signs of improvement if he wanted to avoid the bust label and remain with the Coyotes all year, and boy did he show some positive signs. With a chance at an increase in playing time and the opportunity to take on a bigger role, the Canadian forward found himself blossoming into the player the Coyotes hoped for in head coach André Tourigny’s system.

Hayton’s Season in Review

Hayton’s 2021-22 season started off in the AHL, playing four games with the Tucson Roadrunners before getting the call up to the Coyotes, where he’d spend the rest of the season, registering 24 points on 10 goals and 14 assists in 60 games. As the season waged on and injuries started to pile up for the Coyotes, his role only increased, and his production grew. As he and the team adjusted to Tourigny’s new system, a spark lit underneath him, a spark that saw him register six points over the team’s final 10 games while totaling career highs in time on ice during that span.