That's Not Wright

 Kingston Center Shane Wright was projected to be the first overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. 

The Montreal Canadiens owned the 1st overall pick, while the New Jersey Devils had the second pick. Most mock drafts had Wright going #1 to Montreal, followed by Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky going #2 to the Devils.

 

New Jersey has selected #1 overall twice in recent years, taking centers in 2017 (Nico Hischier) and 2019 (Jack Hughes). Devils fans would have been happy to have a 6' 4" 230 lb winger fall to them at number two... but Montreal flipped the script and selected him with the first pick.

It's rare for a consensus #1 pick to not go #1 overall, in any draft. There didn't seem to be much dispute over Shane Wright's standing as the top prospect available - though he wasn't seen as a generational superstar such as Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews. Scouts compared Wright to Patrice Bergeron, a future Hall of Famer who excels on both ends of the ice but has never been a top-tier scoring star.

Perhaps Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald could have traded the pick, acquiring a veteran scoring winger to pair with Hischier and/or Hughes. Instead the Devils used the second overall pick to select.. not Shane Wright.

Perhaps Simon Nemec will develop into a franchise cornerstone like Victor Hedman or Drew Doughty - two other defensemen taken #2 overall. Perhaps Fitzgerald will regret passing on Wright, who was selected #4 overall by Seattle.

Far too many NHL "experts" assumed that New Jersey had no need for the highly-touted centerman. The Devils are set at center was the common refrain. No one even paid lip service to the idea that a team that missed the playoffs in 9 of the last 10 seasons should take the best player available.

 

Jack Hughes is a star in the making. He's also 21 years old and hasn't played a full season in the NHL. Hischier - who was also seen as a two-way center in the Bergeron/Kopitar/Toews mold - just finished his fifth season, in which he set career highs with 21 goals and 60 points. 

New Jersey had one player in the NHL's top 50 point scorers - left winger Jesper Bratt. Hughes didn't finish among the league's top 100 point producers. Hischier didn't rank among the NHL's top 100 goal scorers.

But we don't need Shane Wright. We're all set at the center position.

Here's my rebuttal to that, if the 'best player available' mantra doesn't work for you.

In 2004, the Pittsburgh Penguins had the 2nd overall pick. They selected Evgeni Malkin, a center.
In 2005, Pittsburgh won the lottery and selected 1st overall. They chose Sidney Crosby, a center.
In 2006, the Penguins again had the 2nd overall pick, which they used to select Jordan Staal.. a center. 

 
In 2008 the Penguins reached the Stanley Cup final. The next year they were Cup champs. Who were the top three scorers on that championship squad?

Want a more recent example of a team drafting three centers in the top three? Let's look at Edmonton:

In 2011, the Oilers had the #1 overall pick. They selected Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a center.
In 2014, the Oilers had the #3 overall pick. They selected Leon Draisaitl, who is also a center.
In 2015, the Oilers once again picked first, selecting Connor McDavid. Guess what position he plays?

Edmonton hasn't won a Stanley Cup or even made it to the final with their haul of high draft picks. However, they were in the Western Conference final this past season. Three of their top four point producers were, in order: McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins.

Let me be clear here - I am not comparing Hughes/Hischier to Crosby/Malkin or McDavid/Draisaitl. Sid, Geno, Leon, and Connor have all won NHL MVP trophies and scoring titles.That's my point.

Hughes and Hischier are not on that level yet, and it's unlikely they ever will be. So why would a non-playoff team pass on a prospect like Shane Wright, whose ceiling is higher than Hischier's by all accounts, simply because they're all centers? Nico would be a heck of a #3, just like Staal was and Hopkins is. 

If scouts or GMs or talking heads want to make the case that Simon Nemec has more upside as a future top-pair defenseman, or that Wright had plateaued - perhaps even regressed - in his draft year, I can't argue those points. But the notion that New Jersey doesn't need another talented center doesn't make sense to me.

I'm happy the Kraken selected Shane Wright 4th overall, not just because they're my 'girlfriend' team but because Philly had the fifth pick  😯

Here's hoping that both the Devils and the Kraken got the .. right guy. Sorry, I had to!

 

Thanks for reading!


 

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