Montreal Canadiens: 2022 Draft Progress Report - Where does Juraj Slafkovsky stack up?
When general manager Kent Hughes took the stage at the Bell Centre to announce the Montreal Canadiens first overall draft pick on July 7 2022, it was a franchise defining moment. Despite many of the hometown fans chanting their support for projected top prospect Shane Wright, Hughes boldly went in another direction.
It’s been 18 months since the Canadiens controversially selected Juraj Slafkovksy at the top of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. While it may still be a tad early to cast ultimate judgment on the many young players that were selected that day, we are starting to get some indication on how some of them might fare at the highest level.
We’ll begin with Slafkovsky who it’s safe to stay is still trying to find his footing in the National Hockey League. Hardly a unanimous number 1 when he was taken, he was always going to be a bit of a project. He’s now reached the 80 game mark in his career and has eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points to show for it. Not exactly paltry numbers but the hulking winger from Slovakia is showing steady improvement.
His offensive game has noticeably grown since being placed on the Habs top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. He has also been skating with the club’s first team power play unit, giving him additional opportunities to showcase his skill set. His average ice time is rising too, from 12 minutes a game in his rookie year to 16 minutes a game as a sophomore. The kid is coming along.
However Habs fans are an impatient bunch and for many of them, the returns are not coming in fast enough. Work certainly needs to be done, no argument here. Is Slaf really a bust though? Now may be as good a time as ever to see how big number 20 is really doing compared to the rest of his peers from the class of ’22.
THE TOP FIVE
With the second overall choice, the New Jersey Devils selected puck moving Slovak defender Simon Nemec. After spending all of last season and the start of this campaign with Utica of the AHL, Nemec was called up in December and has had a decent start to his NHL career putting up two goals and five assists for seven points in 18 games with the Devils. It’s a small sample size but Nemec has shown flashes of what made him the first d-man selected.
The third player off the board was Logan Cooley to the Arizona Coyotes. The Pittsburgh native completed his collegiate run at the University of Minnesota and turned pro prior to this season. The results have been mixed thus far. The 5’10” center with a flair for offense has 20 points in 40 games which is pretty good, but only three goals which is concerning.
Wright, considered the consensus best in class for two years leading into the draft process, ultimately fell to the fourth spot where he was taken by the Seattle Kraken. The player that many Habs fans wanted and the one most prognosticators had at the top of their draft boards has had a tough start to his career.
After playing eight games with the Kraken to begin the 2022-23 season, Wright was sent back to junior. He has played only three games in the NHL this year while spending the majority of his time with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. His NHL totals to this point in 11 career games, just one goal and one assist.
The next player taken was Cutter Gauthier of the U.S. National Development Team, going fifth to the Philadelphia Flyers. Gauthier has not made his NHL debut yet as he chose to remain at Boston College for a second season. He is coming off an impressive performance at the World Juniors, leading the United States to the gold medal.
Gauthier was also in the news recently as his rights were surprisingly traded to the Anaheim Ducks after he reportedly refused to sign a contract with the Flyers. It appears that Gauthier could be the wildcard of this draft though his ceiling is certainly high enough to be the best of the bunch.
BEST OF THE REST
Rounding out the top ten picks were David Jiricek to Columbus, Kevin Korchinski to Chicago, Marco Kasper to Detroit, Matthew Savoie to Buffalo and Pavel Mintyukov to Anaheim.
Of that group the two forwards, Kasper and Savoie, have yet to establish themselves as NHL regulars. Kasper is playing in the AHL while Savoie is still in junior. Meanwhile the three defensemen, Jiricek, Korchinski and Mintyukov, are all playing in the top six of their respective teams. Mintyukov in particular is off to a hot start with 19 points on the year, staking an early claim to being the cream of the defense crop.
It should be noted that the biggest surprise of the 2022 draft so far is second rounder Matthew Poitras. The 54th overall pick of the Boston Bruins has already made the jump to Beantown contributing five goals and ten assists for 15 points in 30 games this season. Shades of Patrice Bergeron, it ranks Poitras fourth in points among 2022 draftees behind only Slafkovsky, Cooley and Mintyukov.
Other names to keep an eye on include Rutger McGroarty of the Jets, Jimmy Snuggerud of the Blues and Jiri Kulich of the Sabres, all first rounders who have been progressing well and been identified as candidates to be in the top ten of any re-draft.
So to put a bow on everything, I think if this exercise proved anything it’s that 18 months is still much too early to jump to any conclusions. While Slafkovsky may not be producing consistently at a high rate, none of his draft mates really are yet either.
The fact is Slafkovsky still leads all 2022 drafted players in games played, goals, assists and points. Would it be premature to say he’s already the best player from his draft class? Of course it would. But in that case it’s probably too soon to say that he’s not the best either. That’s why it’s a progress report not a final grade.
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