Montreal Canadiens: The Case For Juraj Slafkovsky At 1st Overall
By Joshua Rosa
The Montreal Canadiens selected
Shane Wright
Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick of the NHL 2022 entry draft. Not the most popular pick, although I am sure there will be some that will claim to have sung his praises since Day 1. I am not one of those people.
I have been vocal in my thinking that Shane Wright should have been taken first overall. Imagine my surprise that he fell all the way down to 4th to the Seattle Kraken. But that doesn’t mean that I am blind to the skills that Slafkovsky brings to the table.
Because so often in these situations of moving pieces in trades or drafts there has to be a winner and/or a loser. Is Montreal a winner or a loser for drafting Slafkovsky first overall? Depends on your point of view, I guess. But it can be difficult to see that the Canadiens just added a very interesting piece to their prospect system.
It is easy to see Slafkovsky becoming the best player in this draft class in five years. It is also easy to see Wright being the best player. Maybe even Logan Cooley or Simon Nemec. We can sometimes be so blinded by our own biases to a certain outcome that we cannot see the good in another.
Was Wright the best pick in the draft? In many people’s eyes, yes. I am not going to grandstand here and pretend like I know more than at least three different NHL scouting teams, because I do not. They must have seen something that I missed.
But the point of this is not to compare Wright and Slafkovsky, there will be time for that in the coming years, but just to look at what the Canadiens got in their new Slovakian first overall pick: Juraj Slafkovsky.