Dylan Strome knows a good summer will help him crack the Arizona Coyotes' roster this season, and the team's top center prospect is putting in the time to realize that dream.
"I've been working hard in the gym and on the ice and I feel a lot stronger and quicker," Strome told Jerry Brown of NHL.com. "Every player has the same goal of making the NHL and playing 82 games, but nothing is given to you. I know if I don't prove I'm ready, I'm going to be in the minors. It drives me to show what I can do."
The offseason workouts appear to be paying off, as Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports notes Strome is weighing in above 200 pounds - a fair uptick from the 6-foot-3, 185-pound center the Coyotes drafted third overall in 2015.
Part of that training regimen includes sessions with Coyotes skating coach Dawn Braid, who has helped add more strength and power to Strome's stride.
"He's stronger, sturdier, and the legs have a little more pop in them," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in July. "Sometimes, big centers take a little longer to come along but he's certainly doing all the right things."
Strome spent last season with the OHL's Erie Otters, recording 22 goals and 53 assists in 35 contests. He also made a Memorial Cup run with the Otters, where he set a tournament record with a seven-point game just five months after a silver-medal finish with Team Canada at the world juniors.
But Strome's junior career is a thing of the past, as he'll turn pro in 2017-18. Whether the Mississauga, Ontario native spends the season with the Coyotes or the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners is yet to be determined, but he'll have some frame of reference after a seven-game stint with Arizona last season.
"We could have had Dylan here and had him play a depth role or play on the wing," Chayka told Brown. "He would have been fine doing that, but that's not what we're looking for out of him. We're looking for him to be a 200-foot center who impacts the game in all areas."
He's expected to fill a top-nine center role next season alongside Derek Stepan, whom the Coyotes acquired from the New York Rangers this summer, and Christian Dvorak, who enters training camp after tallyinged 15 goals and 18 assists in his freshman campaign.
Strome's ability to generate offense should please new bench boss Rick Tocchet, who's preached that he wants the Coyotes to attack with an aggressive, creative style.
"(Strome) has so many attributes from a skill and anticipation standpoint that let you know (he) has a chance to be a great one," Chayka added. "When a player has a ceiling like that, you don't want to do anything that can harm that. It's too valuable to the organization long term when you have a player of that caliber."
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