After his triumph at the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championship, Barrett Hayton was put on injured reserve by the Arizona Coyotes to rehab the dislocated shoulder he suffered in Canada’s semifinal matchup with Finland.
That injury and his age created a unique opportunity to sneak Hayton through the murky NHL/CHL rulebook and into conditioning games with the Tucson Roadrunners as he neared his return to action.
Hayton was in Tucson for just five games, and he wore this White Set jersey in all five of those contests.
Hayton’s Roadrunners sweater is photomatched to a small puck mark beneath the O’Rielly Chevrolet sponsorship patch.
While he wasn’t exactly lighting it up in Glendale, Hayton had led Team Canada in scoring in the 2020 WJC.
In Tucson, he picked up right where he left off. In his five game stint, Barry scored 1 goal and chipped in 4 assists for the Meeps before returning to the Arizona Coyotes.
This shirt has some wear despite it’s short time on-ice. There are two repairs on the right sleeve just below the black/copper/brick red band. Both sleeves have puck and stick marks. The back has a stick mark between the #22, and there is a large dark stick mark in the top loop of the second #2 on the back.
Time will tell if Hayton can live up to the expectation of being the 5th overall pick in the draft.
If the Arizona Coyotes have lacked one thing beyond stable ownership in their franchise history, it has been a legitimate number one center. After Jeremy Roenick departed, it’s been a motley crew of guys forced into the role when they’d be better served to be second or third line pivots.
He certainly has the talent and work ethic. Now he just has to convince Rick Tocchet to put him in the game and on a line where he can make a difference.