The comparison comes from being the odds-on guy to go #1 2 or 3 years before his draft and then not going. You have mentioned a few times now what Hagens has done in past tournaments; well, similarly, it can be said for Wright, and as far as being outshone by Bedard, well, most prospect would, unless your surname start with an "M"
But the main point is that all of Wright's hype pre-draft can be outdone by someone else because I don't think it means much, and it's not outlandish to suggest it may happen to Hagens.
As for their draft seasons, 94 points in 62 games vs. Hagens, who sits at 25 in 21 games in the NCAA, I think it's a pretty similar projection.
Oh stop, your countrymen pulled the rug out from under Hagens unfairly and installed this unproven guy in coup style fashion.
There was never much separation either. No one thought Hagens was miles beyond the competition. He was always just doing a little more than everyone else, and that was enough, as he has this season. I’m not going to allow Canadians to whitewash history about this and trash a player they’ve defrauded.
You may not remember or weren’t following at the time, but Wright’s play was very lethargic and underwhelming. He missed the World Junior team that he was widely expected to make. He went into his draft season with a huge lead for 1OA. The fact he was an anointed Canadian ES guy bought him time.
Comparing their PPG is ridiculous. First of all, there’s no proper conversion rate to apply. Second of all, Wright didn’t even lead his OHL team in scoring. This was a team that didn’t have any other real NHL prospects (except the goaltender Merilainen). Some guy named Lucas Edmonds outscored him by 19 points. Edmonds is in his third AHL season and has 5 points. Two others named Jordan Frasca and Martin Chromiak (who?) weren’t far behind him in scoring. Third of all, you’re missing all the context. Wright’s PPG wasn’t even too bad. It wasn’t what was expected (as I just mentioned), but not the biggest complaint. It was his play. It’s literally like the opposite with Hagens. Nobody seriously questions Hagens play. A few partisans who want to install someone new as 1OA have started questioning his raw scoring numbers so far this season (leaving out that his team isn’t high scoring, that he has higher raw totals than the WJC MVP, and how difficult of a schedule his team has played).
And even insinuating that they have a similarity in that they played well in international tournaments but not for their club team is frankly absurd. You must’ve just pulled up EP. I don’t think Wright even one had tournament where he was a top 5 player. That WJC18 where he had high totals he didn’t even play that well. People thought he was overshadowed and carried. He ended up having a broken foot, so the complaints went a little too far, but he wasn’t a top player there. And there isn’t even really another great tournament. His WHC17 was solid, but nothing special. His WJC20 was mediocre. Hagens has numerous international tournament records and won all three before being drafted, so it’s literally no comparison. And the idea Hagens is only an international tournaments merchant is completely unfair. He had the highest PPG in the USHL in his DY-1. He has the fifth most points ever at the NTDP.
Well, I think most at this point would go with Slafkovsky over Wright, but he could still be a good player, and I hope he does anyway. Cooley may end up better than either; we'll see.
Why? Because he had one big season? He’s been no better than Wright this season.
Wright has been good this season. He’s nearly equaling Slafkovsky this year with way less TOI and situations. He hasn’t had anywhere near the free rein of Cooley and Slafkovsky so far in his NHL career, but he’s taken a big step this season.
