Can Logan Cooley contend for the Calder Trophy?

Anthony Petrielli and Nick Ashbourne put some shine on Coyotes rookie Logan Cooley, who has quietly put together quite the start to his rookie campaign. Full episode is on our Yahoo Sports NHL YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

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NICK ASHBOURNE: Early in the NHL season, you could argue the Connor Bedard traveling circus has been the thing that sucked up the most attention. And by and large, Bedard has been really good. Like, the numbers haven't totally jumped off the page, but he's getting a ton of opportunities. You could definitely envision a world where he's already got three, four goals at this point.

But I do think it's worth talking about, in my opinion, the sort of one guy who could threaten him for called or consideration, threaten him to not derail the hype train, but maybe slow it down. And that's Logan Cooley, who's been absolutely fantastic for the Arizona Coyotes. Now, this is a team that has scored only five goals in total as we record here, so we know that he has not have incredible numbers. He has three assists in three games. He's looked incredibly dynamic on the power play, very creative as a passer, which is a kind of interesting contrast to Bedard, who's looking for his shot sort of at all times, arguably to a fault in moments.

And I just think it's worth a little bit of shine on this guy because there's a chance here that we have this conversation, and in three weeks, like, Bedard has taken off like a rocket. That doesn't mean that Cooley still won't be relevant, but he is someone who deserves a little bit of a moment in the sun here while his production has been comparable to Bedard, and he's playing in a featured role.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: Yeah. It's interesting. Like, he obliterated college last year, right? And by and large, the favorite's Bedard. Just not only is he playing really well already to start the season, Chicago's maybe been a little bit above expectations, which helps. He gets all of the attention from the media, which definitely does help. Like, this is a vote at the end of the day.

NICK ASHBOURNE: For sure.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: It's a popularity contest to some degree. Just because someone wants student president doesn't mean that they're the best possible student president. That's not to say that'll be the case with Bedard, but you look at Cooley coming off of that season and some of the things he's already doing. Like, he made a backhand pass to Nick Schmaltz against Jersey for a one timer goal. And I was watching it live, and the d man was wide open. And I was like, pass it to the guy. Just let him shoot. There's guys in front.

And he made that backhand pass, and live, I was like, where is he going? Like, I'm getting the camera view, and I'm like, I don't understand what he's doing. And then they scored. I was like, all right. He may-- maybe he's--

NICK ASHBOURNE: He's on to something.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: Yeah. And it's tough to say this, too, because as you noted, Arizona scored five goals. And they're 1-2. But I actually think Arizona could be like an interesting ish team.

NICK ASHBOURNE: I agree with that. Like, I kind of like them [INAUDIBLE]. Yeah.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: Right? Like, I like their goalie. I think they have some like surprising forward depth, if Barrett Hayton is the real deal as he was kind of showing last year. Like, I think there's some things there. So that's where it gets interesting to me because I still don't think Chicago is good.

NICK ASHBOURNE: No.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: But if Arizona is climbing in that race for the first time in half a decade or whatever it's been-- if you want to count that Taylor Hall, like, COVID bubble season, go for it. But like, if they're there, and he's having a year, it's going to start turning heads. Like, eventually people are going to look and go, well he's producing, and Arizona is like somehow winning games.

NICK ASHBOURNE: I think the stylistic difference could be an issue for him because Bedard is always looking for his own opportunity, so he could get that gaudy goal total because he's firing. Like, the guy-- he's frustrated that he only has a goal so far. Like, if you watch him in that game against the Maple Leafs, he's like smashing his stick against the side of the bench, and he has as many shot attempts as anyone in the league.

And so, he's kind of in control of his own destiny offensively, whereas Cooley is obviously a scoring threat. Like, we saw that in the pre-season and what he did in college, but he is someone who's going to look for his teammates a little bit more. And his teammates, kind of like Bedard's teammates, are like not elite level. Like, he's playing on the second line. He's playing on a power play that is not going to be among the best power plays in the league.

So whenever you have a player like that, there's always a chance that his teammates kind of don't make good, and the assist total doesn't ratchet up. And like, the reality is people are really looking at point totals when it comes to this type of thing and goal totals, and there's way more subtlety to the game than that. But these are people voting who are not watching all the Coyotes games, not watching all the Blackhawks games. And I'm not claiming that we're doing that. Like, I'm not saying I'm watching 82 Blackhawks games or 82 Coyotes games. Like, I'm not that much of a psycho, so I get it.

That's where it seems like-- and I'm not even saying that Bedard isn't the better talent because I think Bedard is a better talent. But that's where-- and it seems like Bedard has the chance to really pull away because I don't know. He throws in 40 goals or something like that. Like, it's just going to be really hard to deny him, both in terms of a literal award, but also just in terms of the fan and media appreciation and hype.

But yeah. I think the Coyotes, even though they haven't shown it, are a little bit interesting. And I think that Cooley looks like a guy who's an impact NHLer right away.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: That's the tough thing, right? If one guy has 15 to 20 goals, and the other guy has 30 plus, but the overall point totals are comparable, it's always going to go to the guy with more goals. And then you add in that he's a year younger, which I think means something. Although, it hasn't always, right? Like, shout out Logan Couture. Shout out Artemi Panarin back in the day. So I mean, to me, it's always meant something, but it hasn't always meant something to voters, which is a whole story in and of itself. But like, I think he can make it interesting, but he'll need his teammates in Arizona to have that team be interesting.

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