Top prospect Logan Cooley finally signs with the Coyotes

This just in, the Arizona Coyotes have signed 2022 3rd overall pick Logan Cooley to a three year, entry level contract.

"We are thrilled to sign Logan to an NHL contract," said Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong in a prepared statement. "Logan is an incredibly skilled player who had an excellent season with the Golden Gophers last year. He has established himself as one of the top prospects in the world. He is a very important player for us, and he has an extremely bright future ahead. We look forward to watching him play for the Coyotes for many years to come." 

Last season, the 5-foot-10, 181-pound Cooley completed his freshman year at the University of Minnesota and finished as the team's leading scorer with 22-38-60 and 42 penalty minutes (PIM) in 39 games. Cooley's 60 points ranked him second in NCAA scoring, tied for first in assists and tied for fifth in goals. The Hobey Baker finalist finished the season with a point in 16 of his final 17 games (11-22-33). He also recorded at least one point in 32 of his 39 games, registering 19 multi-point games. Cooley finished second in Big Ten conference scoring and led the Golden Gophers to the Frozen Four Championship game before falling to Quinnipiac 3-2 in overtime. 

There had been rumors that the 19 year old Pittsburgh/ PA native was going to hold out his services from the team as he was not happy happy with the way things have transpired in Arizona the past calendar year. Evidently things have changed or that was never the case to begin with. In any case, Cooley's signing is a big deal for this franchise. He's one of the top prospects in hockey and most scouts have him pegged as a game changing offensive player with the "IT" factor that it so important these days. In fact, some scouts see him as the best player in his draft class, despite the fact that he was chosen #3 overall behind Juraj Slafkovsky (Montreal Canadiens) and Simon Nemec (New Jersey Devils).