Montreal Canadiens: Why Shane Wright Fell To Fourth Overall In The NHL Draft
The Montreal Canadiens ensured there was a hefty amount of drama in the 2022 NHL Draft. We finally got the answer to the question on everyone’s minds: Wright or Slafkovsky?
The hometown Montreal Canadiens drafted first, and new General Manager Kent Hughes proudly proclaimed they were taking the winger from Slovakia: Juraj Slafkovsky.
That wasn’t the biggest surprise. Just before the draft, Slafkovksy was rocketing up the draft rankings, and a few pre-draft rankings had him going first overall.
But the second pick came to the New Jersey Devils, and they selected…Simon Nemec. A double-dip for the Slovaks. The Devils get an interesting young defender to go with their young forward corps. But it also left Shane Wright on the hot seat after two picks.
The 3rd overall pick belonged to the Arizona Coyotes and they picked one of the highest ranking, offensively gifted centreman. I am, of course, talking about Logan Cooley.
And just like that, Shane Wright fell to the fourth overall pick and the Seattle Kraken. Right after him was Cutter Gauthier to the Philadelphia Flyers to round out the top 5.
I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Wright, Cooley and Slafkovsky were all pretty tight at the top of the board, and it seemed to come down to personal preference on which of the three you like more. Generally, for most of the season, Wright was seen as the #1, but Bob McKenzie had switched Wright and Slafkovsky at 1 and 2 for his final draft ranking.
There was a chance that Wright would be available for the New Jersey Devils. It would be crazy if Wright was open for Arizona. No one saw it coming that Shane Wright would be a Seattle Kraken. Not even him, if you buy into his reaction after being chosen as a death glare to the Montreal Canadiens’ staff.
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So really, what happened?
Wright was Exceptional
Shane Wright was given exceptional status as a young teenager to play in the big leagues. But being granted exceptional status does not necessarily guarantee a great NHL hockey player. The players that have been granted exceptional statuses are Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Joe Veleno and Sean Day. Day is now 24 and has played just two NHL games so far, and not with the team that drafted him.
Veleno is still young, but hasn’t broken out as you would hope an exceptional player would. He was drafted in 2018, played his first NHL game in the 2020-21 season and played the whole last season, while recording a statline of eight goals and 15 points in 66 games.
Connor McDavid is the epitome of an exceptional player. He breaks the game and is the best player in the league. Tavares and Ekblad have been stars in their own right, but haven’t set the league on fire. Maybe my views on exceptional are a bit too high.
Wright lost a year (as did all hockey players) due to the pandemic, and did struggle in this past year. Wright isn’t very flashy in his game, and for many, that can be a turn off. Watching his highlights next to Slafkovsky’s or Cooley’s and you will more than likely going to be left wanting on the Wright front.
Shane Wright is also a high floor/high ceiling player. He is smart and skilled enough that he is at least going to be a good NHL option, probably great. The risk is low, but the reward is high. Is it quite as high as Cooley’s or Slafkovsky’s if they hit their ceilings? Probably not, but Wright also would likely right around that skill level.
But the theme of the early first round was high risk/high reward. Montreal, New Jersey and Arizona all swung for the fences, ignoring the safer option in the hope that their draft pick will develop correctly and become the best player in the draft.
If Juraj Slafkovsky gets to his ceilling, he is a dominant power forward capable of scoring 40 goals and 80 points in a season. Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens are banking of Slafkovsky hitting his peak, and not becoming another Josh Anderson-type prototypical power forward.
Because if neither grows to their full potential, I think that Wright would be the better player. But if both players reach their potential, I think that Slafkovsky has the edge.
(Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images)
It really just comes down to draft strategy
But it is all about what you think the draft strategy should be. I like the safer options early in the draft, and leave the attempter home run swings to the later rounds. And I believe that Shane Wright was the closest thing to a sure thing next year.
Wright is now going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder. A great thing to hear if you are a Seattle Kraken fan. Slafkovsky also seems to like the attention that being a #1 pick to Montreal of all teams seems like a dream come true.
Ultimately, I think that all the teams that did pass on Shane Wright were looking at upside rather than safety. In drafts there are home run swings, or safety bunts. Wright is a safe pick, but fell due to the mentality of these teams taking big risks.
This isn’t a bad mentality when it comes to a draft like this, where there isn’t a clear cut 1st overall pick. A good middle-6 forward is a player that you can pick up in free agency or through a trade. But it is much harder to pick up a top line power forward, super offensively talented center or top pairing defender.
Wright does have a really high ceiling and floor, but his play this past year has put doubts into many scouts minds on whether he can reach his full potential. And if he does reach his potential, Wright will be a great 200-foot number 1 center. Something that, truth be told, there are other players in the NHL that fit that bill.
If Slafkovsky or Cooley hit their full potential, they will be something unique and special. The problem with them is that if they don’t, they won’t be near as effective as Wright if he doesn’t hit his ceiling.
Wright was the safe pick. Montreal, New Jersey and Arizona went for the big swings, and Shane Wright dropped into Seattle’s lap.
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