One specialty Arizona Coyotes general manager (GM) Bill Armstrong has looked for when drafting young prospects is size. Size is unteachable. It’s something people are born with. This has been something Armstrong hasn’t shied away from as GM. In fact, all 12 draft picks from 2023 were all at least 6-foot-0, which showcases his desire to assemble a bigger and stronger team. A player in particular who was drafted for his size is 6-foot-7 Maveric Lamoureux.
Lamoureux wasn’t on many teams’ cards for the first round. Many thought he would be taken in the second or third round. This included respected analyst Bob McKenzie, who ranked Lamoureux at 44 on his list. However, his height attracted the Coyotes staff enough to be taken 29th overall, the team’s third first-round selection in 2022. The 19-year-old missed nearly six months rehabbing a shoulder injury last season, and now, with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in full swing, he has shown why he deserved to go in the first round.
Strong Showing at Coyotes Prospect Camp Paying Dividends
Before the QMJHL season even began, Lamoureux was at the Coyotes’ rookie camp, where he looked like one of the best players on the ice. He looked like a first-round draft pick. However, it wasn’t always comfortable for the towering defenseman as he was coming off a season where he had just played 35 games due to a shoulder injury. It was a long process recovering and getting back to full speed, but the camp provided him an excellent opportunity to see where his game was.
“Recovering was a long process. It was really long, and I had some hard times, too,” Lamoureux said. “Right now, though, I feel really good. It’s even stronger than the other one, and everything is perfect with my shoulder right now.”
“I was down to 183 at 6-7, which is not good,” he said, laughing. “So I spent like five weeks last summer in Arizona with all the staff for my rehab, just working out, practicing with [Clayton] Keller and [Jakob] Chychrun, who were coming back from rehab.”
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Lamoureux shined bright against some of his future teammates at the Coyotes’ prospect camp, but he picked it up a notch against other prospects at the rookie tournament in Las Vegas. In his three games, he meshed with first-round pick Conor Geekie and late-round gem Maksymilian Szuber. It was a good sign for the Coyotes organization and Lamoureux, who gained bunches of confidence ahead of his fourth season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Potential Blossoming in QMJHL
As mentioned above, when the Coyotes took Lamoureux 29th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, most scouts considered it a massive reach. That’s partly due to his weak draft season, only having 24 points in 54 games. His game also had many concerns that most wouldn’t project in the NHL, at least not soon. He also wasn’t able to show much last season, as he was hurt for the majority of the season. Now that he’s 100% healthy and with more weight on the defenseman, he’s been tearing it up with the Voltigeurs.
“He’s such a good kid, and he wants to do everything at once, but once we started breaking down his game, he started really taking pride in what he was doing, and we started to see more and more improvements,” said Coyotes development coach Kurtis Foster. “It was a matter of basically not trying to be a difference-maker every single shift. He’s such a presence physically that he found himself in the box at times because he would get frustrated and take too many penalties. When you’re 6-foot-7, all eyes are already on you, so you can’t take that extra shot or that extra cross-check. That’s one place I did see massive improvement throughout the year was his physical play and finding that fine line.”
Through the first 13 games of the season, Lamoureux has been over a point-per-game with 14 points. While he still has plenty of work regarding his game, seeing this type of play at the start of the season is very encouraging. Lamoureux also leads the Voltigeurs in points for defensemen and will look to continue his hot streak into the coming months. Granting the Coyotes’ staff sees enough progress in the QMJHL, could we see him in the NHL next season?
Could Lamoureux Play With Coyotes Next Season?
Previous GMs of the Coyotes have often times rushed prospects, which is not a winning recipe in the NHL. Former third-overall draft pick Dylan Strome was rushed into a role he was not ready for. This caused him to not develop into the player the Coyotes had hoped for, taking him that early. The same could be said for current Coyote Barrett Hayton, who was taken fifth overall in 2018. He has turned out quite nice now, but to start his career, he was all over the place. That said, could we see Lamoureux in the NHL as soon as next season?
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The simple answer to that question is no. Armstrong has shown with nearly every prospect to overbake them until they are 100% ready to take on the NHL with full confidence. It’s also fair to point out that defensemen typically take longer to develop. Lamoureux will likely be heading down the I-10 next season and playing with the Tucson Roadrunners, which have seen many prospects play there. Dylan Guenther and Josh Doan are developing there and have played nicely to begin the season.
Lamoureux should join the Roadrunners next season, but if he makes a late push at training camp, he could be a dark horse to make the 2024-25 team.
Lamoureux Is More Than a Bottom Pairing Defenseman
When it comes to defensemen, it’s one of the Coyotes’ weak points. Adding Dmitri Simashev sixth overall in the 2023 Draft helped, but they need more. They have a multitude of defensemen with the Roadrunners, along with other junior leagues. But now, in the early portions of Lamoureux’s third QMJHL season, we’re seeing a glimpse of what he can do with his size and reach when healthy. If he can continue this gait, he may be more than a lockdown or bottom-pairing defenseman in the NHL. Time will only tell, but the Coyotes are in good hands with Lamoureux and his development so far.