The Montreal Canadiens hold the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Though there was plenty of consensus in the years leading up to this season who the best player is in this draft, there has been a complete lack of consensus in the last few weeks.
Since he was 15 years old, Shane Wright was the expected first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He was granted exceptional status to play in the OHL a year early and was terrific that season, scoring 39 goals and 66 points in 58 games.
Lately, there was far more debate over whether he would be the top pick, or if Juraj Slavkovky had usurped him with strong performances at the Olympics and World Championships. There was even some debate about Logan Cooley possibly being the top pick.
Kent Hughes admitted those were the three players on the Habs final list of possible first overall picks. He said they were still debating internally whether it would be Wright, Slafkovsky or Cooley when the pick is officially made tonight.
Now, we know there is plenty of posturing when general managers speak to the media. He isn’t going to state publicly who they have ranked number one when there is a possibility someone gives a ridiculous offer to move up to get the first overall pick. GMs just play their cards close to their vest because they don’t want another team getting any of their proprietary data.
So, you can’t really believe every word a GM says in a press conference. It is possible they decided months ago who they would take if they won the draft lottery. They just aren’t going to be that forthcoming with their information so everything that is said publicly has to be sifted through and taken with a grain of salt.
Bob McKenzie, on the other hand, is the Godfather of NHL Insiders and every word he says should be taken as gospel to hockey fans. He is semi-retired but working the NHL Draft for TSN and has long been the best at scouring the organizations around the NHL for information.
He had a very interesting tweet this morning. He doesn’t flat out say the Canadiens will pick Shane Wright, but he comments that there is a growing belief among other NHL teams that they are convinced the Canadiens are going to make Wright the first overall pick.
Anecdotally speaking, not to be confused with actual confirmed reporting that is sourced, a lot of NHL teams are convinced MTL will take 🇨🇦 C Shane Wright with No. 1 overall pick. Also anecdotal, there seems to be considerable talk about NJ possibly trading No. 2 overall.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 7, 2022
McKenzie is careful to point out this is just anecdotal evidence that he is hearing behind the scenes. He isn’t confirming that this information came from Kent Hughes or anything like that, but just based on the people he is talking to behind the scenes, he is getting the feeling that Wright is believed to be the desire of the Canadiens at first overall.
We shall wait and see and won’t know anything for sure until tonight. We don’t pretend to be insiders here at FanSided either, but we are big enough fans of the game to know when Bob McKenzie speaks, we need to listen. The first Insider is telling us something here and we should expect Shane Wright to be taken first overall by the Canadiens tonight.
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