C Shane Wright (2022, 4th, SEA) Part 4

[Ryan Van Horne]

Great goaltending.

Dustin Wolf is one of the AHL's best goalies and is no slouch. Give the kid some credit, those were good snipes.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

He seems to already be a very good AHL player. Another example of how the CHL/NHL agreement can stifle prospects by forcing NHL clubs to have to choose between the NHL or jr. Hopefully he can go to the WJC and be dominant - after that I am really unsure what the course of action is? Does he go back to the OHL or jump back up with the big club with more confidence? He hasn't exactly been given a fair shake to prove much in Seattle thus far.

Happy for the guy, he's had nothing but negative things said about him the last 8 months.

 

[cmcneil02]

Surely they send Wright back to Seattle to play against Juraj Slafkovsky in Montreal first game back from World Juniors in January. That could end up being really fun to watch.

As Shane said himself “Mark those dates eh?”

Watching Shane in the World Juniors might not even look fair, he’s going to be disgusting against Austria, Germany, and Czechia. Plus with Connor Bedard on your team? Oh boy December and January are going to be fun.

 

[ponder]

Surely they send Wright back to Seattle to play against Juraj Slafkovsky in Montreal first game back from World Juniors in January. That could end up being really fun to watch.

As Shane said himself “Mark those dates eh?”

Watching Shane in the World Juniors might not even look fair, he’s going to be disgusting against Austria, Germany, and Czechia. Plus with Connor Bedard on your team? Oh boy December and January are going to be fun.

That’s unlikely, I think. He looked like arguably the worst player on the team in 2 games in the original (COVID rescheduled) 2022 WJC, then got cut from the rescheduled version in August 2022.

That’s just 3 months ago that we wasn’t good enough to make the team. Now, he’ll certainly make the team this year, and I expect him to be pretty good, but I doubt he’ll be so good it doesn’t even look fair. My guess is he’ll be a top 10 player on the team, but not top 5. Forwards like Bedard, Stankoven, Othmann, Bolduc, Geekie, Savoie, Fantilli. Dmen like Zellweger, Mateychuk, Lambos, Ceulemans. Not to mention guys who might get released, but probably not, like Guenther, Wyatt Johnston and Brandt Clarke. Lots of talent.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

That’s unlikely, I think. He looked like arguably the worst player on the team in 2 games in the original (COVID rescheduled) 2022 WJC, then got cut from the rescheduled version in August 2022.

That’s just 3 months ago that we wasn’t good enough to make the team. Now, he’ll certainly make the team this year, and I expect him to be pretty good, but I doubt he’ll be so good it doesn’t even look fair. My guess is he’ll be a top 10 player on the team, but not top 3.

He didn't get cut, he chose not to attend

 

[ponder]

He didn't get cut, he chose not to attend

Oh damn you’re right, I totally misremembered that! Still, I’d be surprised if he’s so good it seems unfair, I expect him up be good but not incredible.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Oh damn you’re right, I totally misremembered that! Still, I’d be surprised if he’s so good it seems unfair, I expect him up be good but not incredible.

Right, but to insinuate he was cut is plain wrong , he would have been an absolute lock had he chose to participate

Edit - should add, can't really blame you , if you read some of the things people on here said about him you might be led to believe he isn't good enough to play in the OHL anymore

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

How is he suppose to gain up to speed vs NHL level speed and physicalness by playing in the OHL which he may not gain any further development.

The 2003 draft, largely considered to be the best draft this century, almost all spent an extra year in junior because of the lockout.

Across the board, they all benefited.

Whether because they had an extra year of physical development, the swagger that came from being on the best world junior team in two decades, essentially getting a year where none of them faced any real criticism because they were all dominating their respective lower levels… it doesn’t hurt anyone.

Anyone who has their career “ruined” by spending an extra year in junior was nothing special to begin with, and if Wright had nothing left to gain from the OHL, he’d be an NHL regular.

The fact that he’s not tells us that much to learn, he still has.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

The 2003 draft, largely considered to be the best draft this century, almost all spent an extra year in junior because of the lockout.

Anyone who has their career “ruined” by spending an extra year in junior was nothing special to begin with, and if Wright had nothing left to gain from another year in the OHL, he’d be an NHL regular.

The fact that he’s not tells us that much to learn, he still has.

Sending him back to the OHL would hardly be a death sentence , he could absolutely learn many things there. As a former mooseheads sth I remember seeing Drouin and Ehlers come back for another year and I believe Zadina should have been back too. It worked really well for Ehlers, maybe not so much for drouin but that was largely his own attitude towards the situation. Zadina stilk had a lot of things he was average at even for the Jr level

At the end of the day though , wright would probably be best suited for the AHL imo, and the last few games have reinforced my beliefs on that

 

[Jukurit]

4 shots and 3 goals. 75% shooting percentage.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Good for him to get such a hot start, will boost his confidence

 

[rsteen]

---

The 2003 draft, largely considered to be the best draft this century, almost all spent an extra year in junior because of the lockout.

Was the CHL agreement the same then? Bergeron was drafted out of the Q, spent his 18 year old season in the NHL and his 19 year old season in the AHL. He's a July birthday so he was 19 the whole season. Obviously given that he played his whole rookie season in the NHL he genuinely had nothing to learn from going back to the Q, but how did they get around the agreement?

 

[kyle44]

---

Was the CHL agreement the same then? Bergeron was drafted out of the Q, spent his 18 year old season in the NHL and his 19 year old season in the AHL. He's a July birthday so he was 19 the whole season. Obviously given that he played his whole rookie season in the NHL he genuinely had nothing to learn from going back to the Q, but how did they get around the agreement?

I presume there were special rules in place because of the NHL lockout.

 

[Peasy]

Yeah it was cause of the lockout. Just like how RNH played in the AHL for half the season his D+2 because of the lockout shortened season.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

Yep, and Tomasino and others played in the AHL two years ago when pandemic wiped out the entire OHL season.

4 shots and 3 goals. 75% shooting percentage.

But no assists!!! Waiting for the inevitable "he's a puck hog" criticism.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

Sending him back to the OHL would hardly be a death sentence , he could absolutely learn many things there. As a former mooseheads sth I remember seeing Drouin and Ehlers come back for another year and I believe Zadina should have been back too. It worked really well for Ehlers, maybe not so much for drouin but that was largely his own attitude towards the situation. Zadina stilk had a lot of things he was average at even for the Jr level

At the end of the day though , wright would probably be best suited for the AHL imo, and the last few games have reinforced my beliefs on that

There have been a number of players deemed "too good for junior" but not quite ready for the NHL. Two that jump to mind for me are Mitch Marner and Corey Perry. I thought Perry should have played in the AHL as a 19yo because he dominated the OHL with more than 2 ppg. However, he needed to get stronger and even as a 20yo he didn't make a big splash in the NHL. He turned out alright. Marner's production as an 18yo levelled off from his draft year, but he got to wear the C for London and made the world junior team where he was one of Canada's key players. He also turned out alright.

Many think Joe Thornton was rushed to the NHL, but he turned out alright. One of these days, when I have lots of spare time, I'll do deep dive on this because I'm curious what the best development path is.

Conventional wisdom says it's possible to rush a prospect and hamper their development but it is unlikely that you can hamper their development by having them play junior an extra year and being one of the best players. With the proper approach, they can still work on weaknesses and focus on the challenge of keeping up the good habits they'll need the next year when they make the jump.

I don't think Shane Wright is "too good for the OHL" this season and think he'll end up there after the world juniors. There is some unfinished business at the junior level for him -- starting with the world juniors -- but I don't think the post-holiday portion will be accomplished with Kingston.

 

[JackSlater]

Good for Wright, hopefully this stint is good for him.

The 2003 draft, largely considered to be the best draft this century, almost all spent an extra year in junior because of the lockout.

Across the board, they all benefited from That extra year. Whether because they had an extra year of physical development, the swagger that came from being on the best world junior team in 20 years, essentially getting a year where none of them faced any real criticism because they were all dominating their respective lower levels… that extra year doesn’t hurt anyone.

Anyone who has their career “ruined” by spending an extra year in junior was nothing special to begin with, and if Wright had nothing left to gain from another year in the OHL, he’d be an NHL regular.

The fact that he’s not tells us that much to learn, he still has.

The way people talk you'd think that the CHL is littered with 18 year olds who like like 1985 Gretzky out there. In this century I don't see any 18 year old CHLers other than Crosby and McDavid who would have actually been too good for the league at 18. Probably Stamkos and Tavares would have been at 19 and other than them I can't think of 19 year old CHLers who would actually have been too good. Players can learn a lot by competing to be the best player in a league, being tasked with carrying a line or power play unit, always facing the attention of the other team's best players.

 

[tmlmatus]

I'm happy for him; really felt bad how his entry into the league went.

 

[Captain97]

Surely they send Wright back to Seattle to play against Juraj Slafkovsky in Montreal first game back from World Juniors in January. That could end up being really fun to watch.

As Shane said himself “Mark those dates eh?”

Watching Shane in the World Juniors might not even look fair, he’s going to be disgusting against Austria, Germany, and Czechia. Plus with Connor Bedard on your team? Oh boy December and January are going to be fun.

Team Canada's forward group looks like it could be disgusting.

Bedard, Wright, Fantilli, Roy, Savoie, Geekie, Beck, Kidney, Stankoven, Othmann, Gaucher,

 

[lomiller1]

Good for Wright, hopefully this stint is good for him.



The way people talk you'd think that the CHL is littered with 18 year olds who like like 1985 Gretzky out there. In this century I don't see any 18 year old CHLers other than Crosby and McDavid who would have actually been too good for the league at 18. Probably Stamkos and Tavares would have been at 19 and other than them I can't think of 19 year old CHLers who would actually have been too good. Players can learn a lot by competing to be the best player in a league, being tasked with carrying a line or power play unit, always facing the attention of the other team's best players.

IMO when players shouldn't be in the CHL it's usually a case of the team being too bad rather then the player being too good. EG in his D+1 year Nick Ehlers played on a team that barely scored 1 goal per game when Ehlers was away at training camp and WJC. When he was there the only way they had any chance at success was from Ehlers to skate through the entire opposing team and either score himself or get a first assist on a perfect setup pass so this is exactly what he did.

It's not exactly the way you want young players to play but even if he had to unlearn a lot of those habits it was probably still beneficial for him from a skill development perspective. Wright would certainly not be in a situation like this where the team needs him develop bad habits in order for the team to succeed, so another year in the CHL certainly would not hurt him.

 

[wetcoast]

I'm hoping Wright has a great stint in the AHL and silences a lot of people in this thread

It should and I still think that the Habs made a mistake not picking him.

 

[Gliff]

Team Canada's forward group looks like it could be disgusting.

Bedard, Wright, Fantilli, Roy, Savoie, Geekie, Beck, Kidney, Stankoven, Othmann, Gaucher,

Imagine if McTavish came back lol.

 

[wetcoast]

The 2003 draft, largely considered to be the best draft this century, almost all spent an extra year in junior because of the lockout.

Across the board, they all benefited.

Whether because they had an extra year of physical development, the swagger that came from being on the best world junior team in two decades, essentially getting a year where none of them faced any real criticism because they were all dominating their respective lower levels… it doesn’t hurt anyone.

Anyone who has their career “ruined” by spending an extra year in junior was nothing special to begin with, and if Wright had nothing left to gain from the OHL, he’d be an NHL regular.

The fact that he’s not tells us that much to learn, he still has.

Interesting take and I agree with alot here but I think the 2013 draft stacks up well beside 2003.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

4 goals with 5 shots on goal. Pretty mint in the AHL. good for him.

 

[majormajor]

Imagine if McTavish came back lol.

Cole Sillinger is still eligible. Jackets FO won't send him but I would. Not like he's doing anything in Columbus right now.