DeadGhost
Ugistered Reger
- Feb 15, 2010
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Prospect Info: Shane Wright (Round 1, Pick #4, 2022 draft)
- Thread starter Fistfullofbeer
- Start date
The Marquis
Moderator
I’m digging that we have something pretty substantial to talk about on non-game days. Last season that came rarely. Bring it on. Hope the kid is great though. I truly do. I’d also like to see him actually play, especially if the team is just going to play poorly anyway.
He'll be fine once he gets through the adjusting period. We just need to trust the team to go through the development plan that they have for him.
so he’s played 2 games out of teams first 4, playing 6 minutes in each
im not saying it’s wright or wrong or if it’ll have any affect on his development or career but legit question, is there any precedence of a recent top 5 pick starting a career off this way? Seems like an extremely odd way of going about it
im not saying it’s wright or wrong or if it’ll have any affect on his development or career but legit question, is there any precedence of a recent top 5 pick starting a career off this way? Seems like an extremely odd way of going about it
The Marquis
Moderator
RainyCityHockey
Registered User
It somehow worked for many prospects even if they didn't really speak the language of that country....
Yeah, no.
I am not trusting Hakstol, (who has a pretty poor record of developing young players), over the majority of opinions in and around the league, or the historical cases of top 5 prospects picked and rushed into the league.
Trusting in a guy that has no experience in the matter to do something unorthodox that historically has ruined many prospects is, in the kindest of terms, "unwise".
golffuul
Registered User
- Oct 24, 2011
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Mason McTavish had a similar start, last year. Although he had more TOI and points, before getting sent back to the CHL. But he had a couple of healthy scratches, and also a minor injury.
This situation with Wright is extremely similar to what happened to Leon Draisaitl in his first year.
He didn't want to play for the Prince Albert Raiders, but Edmonton felt he wasn't NHL ready after his nine games (he was probably more ready than Wright though and had already accomplished more in Junior than Wright).
Draisaitl played the "will go back to Europe" threat card and Prince Albert traded him to Kelowna for a haul, Kelowna and Draisaitl made it to the memorial cup finals and everyone was happy.
He didn't want to play for the Prince Albert Raiders, but Edmonton felt he wasn't NHL ready after his nine games (he was probably more ready than Wright though and had already accomplished more in Junior than Wright).
Draisaitl played the "will go back to Europe" threat card and Prince Albert traded him to Kelowna for a haul, Kelowna and Draisaitl made it to the memorial cup finals and everyone was happy.
Maliki2
Registered User
NiagaraKraken
Registered User
RainyCityHockey
Registered User
He just had his first NHL point and a coach who openly said after the game that he needs to find more minutes for him.
I don't think anything will happen before he had his nine games and even then it doesn't look like the team will send him down.
The way Hakstol rolls his lines, Wright needs to be in the top 9 if he's going to get much out of this season.
The question is, should he be?
Down the middle the team has Beniers, Wennberg and Gourde.
The top 9 wingers are
Bjorkstrand
Burakovsky
Schwartz
Eberle
Tanev
McCann
And with the way Donato scores, he probably should be in there too. Sprong has looked surprisingly good as well, and they are all playing better than Wright.
To be honest, Wright has not really earned the icetime. I am usually ok with gifting prospects some icetime as a development tool,, but they have to have earned the spot, it is an important part of the development process. Gifting a spot to a player that is not ready is not really doing them any favors.
I agree that they should play out the nine game trial and see if things change, but if they don't, I am not certain how anyone can justify keeping him up.
The question is, should he be?
Down the middle the team has Beniers, Wennberg and Gourde.
The top 9 wingers are
Bjorkstrand
Burakovsky
Schwartz
Eberle
Tanev
McCann
And with the way Donato scores, he probably should be in there too. Sprong has looked surprisingly good as well, and they are all playing better than Wright.
To be honest, Wright has not really earned the icetime. I am usually ok with gifting prospects some icetime as a development tool,, but they have to have earned the spot, it is an important part of the development process. Gifting a spot to a player that is not ready is not really doing them any favors.
I agree that they should play out the nine game trial and see if things change, but if they don't, I am not certain how anyone can justify keeping him up.
Wennberg would be the only candidate for Wright to replace at the moment as Matty is set and Gourde is probably the most dedicated player we have. If it's Wennberg, though an offensive black hole, we lose his face off and penalty killing skills. I hope they send Wright back to juniors because he's not magically going to be "all right" by gluing him to the bench but for six or seven minutes a night and saying "earn your minutes."
Perhaps the first step is for Francis and Hakstol to get on the same page.
Perhaps the first step is for Francis and Hakstol to get on the same page.
The Marquis
Moderator
Fistfullofbeer
Moderator
I was disappointed by Wennberg last season but he looks more motivated this season. He has played better early this season and I think he could hit 50-55 points if he keeps playing this way. I feel Gourde should be moved to W and use Beniers, Wennberg, Wright and Geekie down the middle.
I don't think they can bench Wennberg for Wright. Without Wennberg's 5 on 5 play this season, this team might be 0-5 imo.
Beniers has been fun to watch, but his defensive awareness and positioning has been pretty bad (this is not back-checking or puck hounding, both areas he has been great, it is recognizing defensive responsibilities and being in position to not give up the odd man rush, and the reason he has the worst +/- on the team. He will get there, but it is the hardest part of playing center at the NHL level and he has a lot to learn yet).
If the team replaced Wennberg with Wright, the ridiculous amount of odd man rushes they already give up would likely go up substantially.
Geekie obviously worked really hard in the off-season on his conditioning and core. He always had good skating technique, but was slow and would get winded and then his form would fall apart.
He still lacks the quick first step, but he has developed a stronger explosive stride and his skating speed improvement has been substantial. I think he is making a case for a top 9 role on this squad as well.
On the flip side, McCann who everyone in here knows I praised all last season is a shell of himself this year. He's slow and completely out of sorts. Looks to me like he has no endurance, and has lost two steps.
The Marquis
Moderator
The only solution is if an injury (when, it'll happen) happens, Gourde can be moved anywhere and Wright can take that spot on the 3rd line. Right now we're doing ok. The Kraken are 1 point ahead of where they were after 5 games last season. For the next 12 games, 6 points will exceed last season. This next stretch was the second worst stretch of the season last year. I think this team has it in them to get 10+ out of the next 12 game. I've hoping for 12 and I'd imagine the high end is probably 14 out of these next 12 games.
yea Wennberg isn't getting bench for anyone. Gourde goes wing and the centers would be beniers, wennberg, wright, geekie.
I guess this is where I jump in to say that Wennberg has been awesome so far this year. Wenny + Bjorkstrand + whoever has been Hakstol's most trustworthy line. Their line is top ten in the league in xG% at this point, all over 60% xG.
Yeah Wennberg can't finish but if you push the puck into the offensive end for 3/5 of the night you're still going to come out ahead.
Fistfullofbeer
Moderator
One observation regarding Wennberg I have had is that he has been pretty awesome at zone entries. Something we struggled with a lot last season as a team.
Agree with everything, but why wait for an injury? If it is a flukey season and an injury never comes then we've wasted a full year of Wright's development, surely a cardinal sin. The third line with, say, Tanev and Gourde would be a good place for Wright, given how hard those two guys work and the passion they bring to the team. In turn, he might help them find their offense as that line has not contributed much offensively. If this means a reduction in Eberle's minutes for a while, I could live with that as he continues to be a defensive liability and isn't scoring goals anyway. Remermber, Wright lost a full year of development to the pandemic--he needs good mentors and Gourde and Tanev could fit that bill.
I'm hoping for 12 points in the next 12 games. That seems reasonable to me given the team's play so far this season.
