The biggest steal of the 2021 NHL Draft is not who you think

When Janis Jérôme Moser, better known as J.J. Moser, was selected with the 60th overall pick in 2021, it was a long time coming.

He was 21 at the time, passed over the previous three years. Moser had so-so results during his first two years in the top league in Switzerland, with some apparent flaws still in his game. He had a nice 2020 World Junior Championship showing, but it wasn’t enough to elevate him to NHL Draft status.

Swiss hockey scouts still believed in him. The potential was there, but the execution wasn’t. He could skate and was smart defensively, but he didn’t do much on the scoresheet and nothing screamed “legitimate NHL prospect.” That all changed in 2020-21. The EHC Biel-Bienne captain recorded his best career numbers, with 30 points in 48 games, and played a key role in Switzerland’s World Championship efforts that year, too. He quickly made his mark as one of the most intriguing overagers, and early on the second day of the 2021 draft, the Arizona Coyotes took a chance on him.

Only North American players 20 and younger by Dec. 15 of the draft year can be selected, while Europeans can get selected until they’re 21, the same age Moser was. He was the oldest player selected that year, but there’s a reason the Coyotes liked him: He was pro-ready. He immediately made the NHL, which, at his age, wasn’t unexpected given his overage status. Nobody expected him to be this good, this early, though.

Yes, the time frame is short, but Moser sits second among all players selected during the 2021 NHL Draft in scoring with 25 points in 60 games. Of the 10 players to have played at least one game from that draft, Moser is the only player taken outside the first round to have played for an NHL team. The Coyotes nabbed Dylan Guenther ninth overall, with him sitting at seven points in 15 games – not a bad dual pickup for the Yotes.

Moser has 10 points in 17 games this season, good for third behind Clayton Keller (18) and Matias Maccelli (11) for the team lead. Moser also leads the team with 23:49 in average ice time, which was partly elevated with the loss of Jakob Chychrun for the first month and a half of the season.

Honestly, his play with Chychrun out of the lineup should give the Coyotes some hope.

The Coyotes aren’t a great team by any means, but the Moser-Jusso Valimaki pairing has a solid 54.1 percent expected goals-for-percentage – good for 17th in the NHL among defensive duos. Valimaki himself has been fantastic since getting claimed on waivers by Calgary. The numbers suggest he’s good with almost anyone, but his chemistry with Moser in particular has made them one of the more underrated 5-on-5 defense pairings.

More than half of Moser’s offensive output has come on the power play, something he always seemed to be a specialist of. That’s fine; points are points. Nobody expected him to put up a ton in the NHL – let alone be an impactful NHLer. Moser has played on the second power play and the first penalty-kill unit this season, showing how much coach Andre Tourigny believes in him.

That belief is crucial given the rumors surrounding a Chychrun trade. There’s no shortage of teams that can use his services, even though Chychrun has missed nearly the entire season. Someone has to stand up if he’s moved, and Moser proved during the first part of the season he was more than capable of playing heavy minutes. They’re not comparable players, but he’s a low-cost alternative who can be tough to play against. The Coyotes aren’t chasing the playoffs anyways – they’re hunting for Connor Bedard. Anything positive from Moser and Valimaki – two defenders who likely wouldn’t have been utilized the same on many other teams – is just a snazzy little bonus. Ideally, the team will keep losing, but individual players will have personal victories. Moser is doing just that with a 3.2 goals-above replacement and 0.6 wins-above replacement – good for second on the team.

Moser was the definition of a long shot before making it to the NHL. Teams passed on him three years in a row before the Coyotes eventually took a flier on him. The extra development time worked, and he’s been a crucial piece of Arizona’s core ever since.