I've had the night to think it over, and I woke up with the idea that Armstrong just Billy Beane'd the league with his picks yesterday.
The NHL has a foundation built on an ever-shifting set of irrational prejudices that have at one time or another included race, nationality, zip code location in the United States, and even attitude. Consequently, people who can see past those prejudices are able to exploit market inefficiencies. This year, there was a prejudice against Russian players because of the war. Even Michkov, who everyone seems to believe would have gone 1OA in most drafts of the past decade, fell past our pick at 6.
It seems pretty clear that Armstrong and his scouts saw this happening and jumped into the gap. Really, they had nothing to lose - nobody takes the franchise seriously, so even if they showed up en masse in Belarus to scout Simashev and But, nobody was going to make much of it. Meanwhile, fans like me were wrapped up in the proclaimed greatness of the North American players and bought into the hype for them and the naysaying about the Russians. If Daniil But is a Ryan Leonard type player, but with size and skating ability, people generally either didn't know or downplayed it because of where he plays.
So Armstrong was not only able to get two guys with enormous upside and size, but he was able to get teammates who both seem absolutely thrilled with the idea of becoming Coyotes sooner rather than later. You folks know how often I harp on the fact that prospects are more than just names on paper - they're people. And I can't forget what it was like to go to Russia in 1987 with one of my best friends - having him there made the prospect of going to a country behind the Iron Curtain at the end of the Cold War a much less frightening prospect.
So, in the proper context, I actually really like our first round yesterday. Very few other people will see it that way, I think, but that's why I always call the Coyotes "Mutts." Mutts are bedraggled and pathetic on their own, but get them in a pack with a common goal and they'll strike fear into the heart of even the most vicious predator.