The first draftee from the 2022 class makes an appearance.
The 2022–23 season is fast approaching. Here at Five For Howling, we’re looking at this year’s 25 best Arizona Coyotes players under the age of 25.
The third player to appear on this year’s list is the fourth player selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 Draft, 18-year-old Russian defenseman Artem Duda.
Duda was selected in the second round (36th overall) in this year’s class, being the second blueliner taken by general manager Bill Armstrong.
Artem Duda
2021–22 league: Russian Junior Hockey League (HC Krasnaya Armiya)
Regular Season Games Played: 52
Regular Season Goals: 14
Regular Season Assists: 27
Playoff Games Played: 18
Playoff Goals: 5
Playoff Assists: 12
Highest Individual Ranking: 19
Lowest Individual Ranking: Not Ranked
Last Year’s Ranking: Not Ranked
The left-shot from Moscow had a dominant season in the Junior Hockey League, playing for the CSKA Moscow-affiliated Krasnaya Armiya (translates to Red Army), registering 41 points in 52 regular-season games – seeing him sit second in the league for points by a defenseman, first-overall in points per game among those who have played more than 50% of the campaign.
Duda continued his impressive offensive showing in the playoffs, almost hitting a point-per-game pace with 17 in 18 games, by far the most of any blueliner in the league – eight points more than second-placed teammate Nikolai Makarov, a 2021 fifth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 18-year-old will continue his development in Russia, with the hope being that he will start to feature in the professional minor league more next season and continue to work up to playing regularly against adults before the Coyotes decide to bring him over to North America.
НИЧЕГО не приносит большего удовольствия, чем смотреть на то, как Артём Дуда снова проделывает свой трюк #ЛигаСильных pic.twitter.com/njOu1i09sj
— Молодежная Хоккейная Лига (@MHL_rus) September 4, 2022
Being one of five defensemen selected in the 2022 Draft, the blueline is clearly an area the team is keen to stock the prospect cupboard full, and Duda could well be one of the players with the highest expectations should he continue to impress over in Russia.
For now, he does not project to play in the NHL, or even North America, for a few more seasons, but when he does, he could be ready to make an impact right out of the gate and become an interesting piece to the team’s (hopefully) competitive years to come.