Montreal Canadiens Three Options With the First Overall Pick
Go “Off the Board”
More likely than trading the pick is the Canadiens keep the pick. But there is not a slam dunk choice at first overall this season. There was at the beginning of the year, and it was pretty much unanimous at midseason, but it’s not quiet anymore.
Shane Wright was the consensus top pick in the 2022 NHL Draft since about 2017, but he now has some competition. And the Canadiens could be intrigued by that competition if they think it fits better within their organization.
While Shane Wright got nine of 10 No. 1 votes in our mid-season ranking in January, he got six of nine votes to remain atop the Draft Lottery Day poll by @TSNBobMcKenzie and appears to be staring down two legitimate threats for No. 1 overall: https://t.co/1L2GPGmNpT#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/FeNqF48j26
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 10, 2022
Juraj Slafkovsky starred at the Winter Olympics for Slovakia and is charging up the draft boards to contend for the first overall pick. He scored seven goals in seven games at the Olympics, though they didn’t feature NHL players. Still, he is a left wing, power forward in the making at 6’4″ and 218 pounds. He scored ten points in 31 games in Liiga this season, and had 18 points in 11 games in Finland’s Junior Circuit.
Logan Cooley is putting up a fight to take the top spot as well. The super skilled centre has posted 75 points in 51 games for the United States Development Program. While Wright is a terrific all-around player, with great offensive skills, Cooley’s game is more speed and skill that jumps outa t you.
Simon Nemec is another possibility. While not many have him ranked as high as number one, he is the consensus top defenceman available. He is a big, right shot defender that is polished at both ends of the ice. He had 26 points in 39 games in the Slovakian pro league and put up 17 points in 19 playoff games.
Taking Slafkovsky, Cooley or Nemec are not going to be the consensus choices, but any one of them could become the best player taken in the 2022 NHL Draft.