The 2023-24 Arizona Coyotes are building a new era of hockey in the Valley of the Sun. They boast one of the most talented prospect pools in the league, highlighted by Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley. In the final installment of our prospect spotlight series, where we give you an in-depth analysis of players to keep tabs on this season, we take a look at winger/center Samuel Lipkin.
With much, if not all of the roster set already for opening night, expect a guy by the name of Lipkin to stake his claim and further push his name into the Coyotes’ future plans/core. At 6-foot-2, the Quinnipiac forward has his eyes set on winning back-to-back national championships this upcoming season.
Growing Up As The Underdog
Coming off a national championship, one would think Lipkin was always a bonafide winner. He tore it up from an early age in triple-A, registering 254 points between 2016 and 2020. He was also a star at La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania, racking up 64 points in 45 games over two seasons.
Related: Coyotes’ Top 10 Prospects for 2023-24
Like his fellow prospect/future teammate Josh Doan, Lipkin opted to play for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He recorded a mere 11 points in 34 games during the 2020-21 season, but the Steel allowed him to play 19 games for the New Jersey Rockets of the National Collegiate Development Conference, where he registered 12 goals and 25 points in 19 games. This extra development would prove very crucial to Lipkin’s rise, registering 71 points in 59 games in his second season, while serving as captain for the Steel. Yet, despite the turnaround in his game, he was overlooked, falling to the seventh round, before the Coyotes selected him 223rd overall in the 2021 NHL Draft.
2022-23 Season Rewind
Upon being drafted, the Philadelphia native elected to further his development and career with Quinnipiac University. He entered his freshman season as part of a very talented roster, including Skyler Brind’Amour, Collin Graf, and Jacob Quillan, and finished the season with 14 goals and 29 assists for 43 points in 39 games.
The 2022-23 season proved to be a big one for the Bobcats, who ended the year 34-4-3 for 60 points, finishing atop the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), with a conference record of 20-2-0. They made it to the Frozen Four tournament, knocking out heavily favored Michigan, and captured the national championship against fellow/future teammate Logan Cooley and the University of Minnesota 3-2 in overtime on Lipkin’s game-winning assist. This was the Bobcats’ first men’s hockey national championship in program history.
Blazing His Own Path
For Lipkin, his meteoric rise in the organization’s pipeline is unheralded. Once considered an underdog prospect, someone who would spend their career as a minor leaguer, his place in the organization’s future has rapidly shifted over the past year. The Coyotes have found themselves with a bonafide forward who’ll only improve in his sophomore season. While general manager Bill Armstrong hoped to have him in Tucson this upcoming season with the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Lipkin instead has his eyes set on repeating as national champions.
He will return as one of the top players in the NCAA this season, to no surprise, according to his coach Rand Pecknold. “He committed to us when he was roughly 16 and we loved him because he had good size, a high IQ, great character and some power-play skills as more of a net-front, bumper type guy,” said Pecknold, who spoke of the progress Lipkin made this past season.
For Lipkin, the work isn’t over and he knows it. “Going to play in the AHL was definitely an option and I really considered it just because I really trust the organization and trust the people that surround it. I just wanted another year for my body and strength to develop. Getting bigger, faster and stronger are the keys to my development and I think I’ve got a great spot to do that at Quinnipiac.” This upcoming season is a crucial one for the guy who continues to work his way up the pipeline. The Coyotes have themselves a diamond in the rough prospect who’s only going to get more recognition the more he develops.
