Prospect Info: Shane Wright (Round 1, Pick #4, 2022 draft)

[brewski420]

Would Wright be better suited on the wing in the NHL as opposed to center?

 

[Gniwder]

I don't think Francis is concerned about burning a year of ELC, as long as he doesn't burn the year toward his UFA eligibility.

Well, the other obvious issue is that he isn't gonna learn anything sitting in a pressbox. Plus sliding the ELC means 3 more contracts expire before Shane needs to be re-signed.

Play him or send him down. If the team wants a puck handler then have a skills coach work with him next summer. Quite frankly, I think it's a skill that can be learned even at the NHL level, Tom Wilson is a good example. He sucked his first couple of seasons (other than running over other players).

BTW, thanks for mentioning the link, I think I'll watch it when I have time

 

[majormajor]

Wright is never going to be a primary puck possession player, but if he is going to be an elite center, I feel it would be a good idea to break him of the urge to move the pick the moment it is on his stick.

Exactly what I'd focus on with him. And I do think it would be easier for him to rejigger his game vs juniors.

Well, the other obvious issue is that he isn't gonna learn anything sitting in a pressbox. Plus sliding the ELC means 3 more contracts expire before Shane needs to be re-signed.

Play him or send him down. If the team wants a puck handler then have a skills coach work with him next summer. Quite frankly, I think it's a skill that can be learned even at the NHL level, Tom Wilson is a good example. He sucked his first couple of seasons (other than running over other players).

BTW, thanks for mentioning the link, I think I'll watch it when I have time

He'll need great skills coaches to show him how, but I think the best beginners implementation should be against easier competition. Wright is still years away from even having average NHL strength or balance. I'd like him to get the form right in an easier setting.

 

[Gniwder]

Exactly what I'd focus on with him. And I do think it would be easier for him to rejigger his game vs juniors.

Puck handling and driving the play was never an issue for him in juniors if you watch any prospect videos. Here's one as an example:

Shane Wright: 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Profile; Apparent Leader of the Class

Shane Wright was projected to go first overall in 2022 for multiple years. Now that the NHL Draft is soon, he is still seen as the top guy - but not by a lot. Learn what makes Wright great and what the concerns are in this prospect profile.

www.allaboutthejersey.com

I think Shane is just scared to make mistakes because the team is winning. He doesn't want to be the kid that turns it over and loses the game. The way Hakstol is treating him makes him even more tentative. Matty started playing for a team that was well out of the playoffs and quite frankly sucked balls. He had nothing to lose.

Or maybe Shane doesn't want to get hit, I'm not sure. Barbashev did get him good, and I've seen smaller players do the one touch to avoid getting hit. Hirose for example, which is why he's in the AHL now.

Regardless, the worst thing to do is to sit him. Send him down to OHL or play him.

 

[SwedishFire]

Puck handling and driving the play was never an issue for him in juniors if you watch any prospect videos. Here's one as an example:

Shane Wright: 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Profile; Apparent Leader of the Class

Shane Wright was projected to go first overall in 2022 for multiple years. Now that the NHL Draft is soon, he is still seen as the top guy - but not by a lot. Learn what makes Wright great and what the concerns are in this prospect profile.

www.allaboutthejersey.com

I think Shane is just scared to make mistakes because the team is winning. He doesn't want to be the kid that turns it over and loses the game. The way Hakstol is treating him makes him even more tentative. Matty started playing for a team that was well out of the playoffs and quite frankly sucked balls. He had nothing to lose.

Or maybe Shane doesn't want to get hit, I'm not sure. Barbashev did get him good, and I've seen smaller players do the one touch to avoid getting hit. Hirose for example, which is why he's in the AHL now.

Regardless, the worst thing to do is to sit him. Send him down to OHL or play him.

Coming in peace etc.

Its those stupid rules that a great prospect has to go back to juniors, wherr he already master the league.
Someone suggested that 1st rounders should be eligble to play in AHL after being drafted. So much better concept. Europeans does this sometimes.
That would be right for Shane.
Nobody learns anýthing being isloated and stampled to the bench. That just losing match tempo.

 

[majormajor]

Puck handling and driving the play was never an issue for him in juniors if you watch any prospect videos. Here's one as an example:

Shane Wright: 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Profile; Apparent Leader of the Class

Shane Wright was projected to go first overall in 2022 for multiple years. Now that the NHL Draft is soon, he is still seen as the top guy - but not by a lot. Learn what makes Wright great and what the concerns are in this prospect profile.

www.allaboutthejersey.com

I think Shane is just scared to make mistakes because the team is winning. He doesn't want to be the kid that turns it over and loses the game. The way Hakstol is treating him makes him even more tentative. Matty started playing for a team that was well out of the playoffs and quite frankly sucked balls. He had nothing to lose.

Or maybe Shane doesn't want to get hit, I'm not sure. Barbashev did get him good, and I've seen smaller players do the one touch to avoid getting hit. Hirose for example, which is why he's in the AHL now.

Regardless, the worst thing to do is to sit him. Send him down to OHL or play him.

I watched several full games of his last year during my annual draft mania, and he had very low time with the puck on his stick in all of them. I wrote about it then. He has a gift for one touch passes so it's not all terrible, but it also was very clear that he didn't have the confidence to hold the puck and buy time, or make a power move. We're seeing a continuation of a long standing problem.

Here's one of those games. He had a terrific game in some ways but also just isn't comfortable holding the puck.



He also had some other conditioning issues last year that are no longer a problem but I do think the discomfort with the puck is an ongoing thing.

 

[Irie]

Well, the other obvious issue is that he isn't gonna learn anything sitting in a pressbox. Plus sliding the ELC means 3 more contracts expire before Shane needs to be re-signed.

Play him or send him down. If the team wants a puck handler then have a skills coach work with him next summer. Quite frankly, I think it's a skill that can be learned even at the NHL level, Tom Wilson is a good example. He sucked his first couple of seasons (other than running over other players).

BTW, thanks for mentioning the link, I think I'll watch it when I have time

Let me clarify. It isn't that he has to work on puck skills. Kid can stickhandle just fine.

It is the decisions to carry the puck vs immediately moving it to a teammate.

The ability to read the play, and sometimes take the puck to the open space and slow down the play to let teammates catch up or move into position.

Ultimately it all falls under hockey sense, but sometimes realizing how to play at a given moment and being able to adapt to different styles is a flexibility that great player possess.

 

[bmore236]

He was just named captain for Team Canada at the U20. Awesome

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Watched some highlights from the CAN vs SUI game today and Bedard looks fantastic. Wright has 2 goal and an assist but honestly both his goals just looked like hard work from Bedard and Wright capitalizing on that.

I am curious what Wright's role in the NHL is going to be. He has a helluva shot but what kind of 'C' is he going be.

 

[Irie]

Watched some highlights from the CAN vs SUI game today and Bedard looks fantastic. Wright has 2 goal and an assist but honestly both his goals just looked like hard work from Bedard and Wright capitalizing on that.

I am curious what Wright's role in the NHL is going to be. He has a helluva shot but what kind of 'C' is he going be.

His hockey sense carrying the puck and his defensive awareness are pretty primative at this stage, The defensive development is often what I expect of a young prospect, but I usually look for more ability to control play and the ability to take over games from a bluechip prospect with his hype.

We have to remember though, he is still only 18.

My main concern is that developing in the NHL, he is going to lean heavy on his strength, which is his ability to find that space and use his shot to score and be effective at the NHL level, and completely ignore trying to develop the desire to hold the puck and create space and drive play.

Worst case scenario I think they have a talented goal scorer with an allstar shot that will be a pretty great complimentary offensive player who scores a ton of goals.

But yeah, probably not ideal if we are hoping for a superstar center. Could still be a great-in-transition, dangerous, two way goal scoring center, but more of a finisher than line-driver.

Part of me hopes Francis finds a trade for Wright to a talented OHL team and a coaching staff that teaches him to better read the play and tell him it is ok to slow things down and hold the puck - take whatever the D is giving you. I think that would be huge for his eventual long term development, but that is probably a long shot at this stage. Solace is that it's not the end of the world if he eventually becomes an allstar winger, maybe just a little disappointing.

 

[The Marquis]

Watched some highlights from the CAN vs SUI game today and Bedard looks fantastic. Wright has 2 goal and an assist but honestly both his goals just looked like hard work from Bedard and Wright capitalizing on that.

I am curious what Wright's role in the NHL is going to be. He has a helluva shot but what kind of 'C' is he going be.

My favorite bit was on the pass that Bedard made from behind the net, Wright scores and looks entirely like he doesn't deserve to celebrate at all. Just points and Bedard and is like 'credit goes to that guy'. I realize they also know it's a game that does count and don't celebrate quite as hard, but that's a gesture I like to see regardless.

 

[majormajor]

I am curious what Wright's role in the NHL is going to be. He has a helluva shot but what kind of 'C' is he going be.

I think it might be contextual. If you had him with a Gaudreau/Marner level playmaker then that could be a good top line, with Wright putting up 1C numbers, maybe 40 goals. But if you have him with players that aren't great at carrying the puck then that might be an issue because he's reluctant to carry the puck himself.

 

[Kevinsane]

That one look at the draft he directed to the Montreal table seems to have Wright pegged as a villain around the NHL by fans who have never met him, people who forget that he was an 18 year old kid.
If he had a bad attitude that affected where he was picked then it’s on him to correct it and mature, and the Kraken will ensure he does, but the amount of people almost rooting for him to fail is ridiculous.
He’s going to be a solid NHLer.

 

[majormajor]

That one look at the draft he directed to the Montreal table seems to have Wright pegged as a villain around the NHL by fans who have never met him, people who forget that he was an 18 year old kid.
If he had a bad attitude that affected where he was picked then it’s on him to correct it and mature, and the Kraken will ensure he does,

It's not a bad attitude to give a stare at people who passed over you. It's just fuel for the fire. He showed up in much better shape this Fall so it looks like he's putting the work in.

but the amount of people almost rooting for him to fail is ridiculous.

There was some backlash on Wright but it had nothing to do with the stare. The TSN hype machine was running his face all year and it got way ahead of where he was as a prospect. Then you have the typical turn against Wright that happens by the Habs fans that were hyping him the most. When they didn't pick him, they started hating on him.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Well, Wright is captain of team Canada, and that Canadian team played like a bunch of spoiled privileged egomaniacs who believe they can just lace up and be crowned kings, like they are owed a gold medal and don't have to work for it. Not one but two of those damn show off Michigan goal attempts. They were an individualist dysfunctional team.
So part of that goes at the coaching, which obviously failed, and the second part goes to the leadership and that's where Wright has to show he's a leader (if he is) and get those brats into shape. We will see if they have it in them or not. It's a true test.

 

[The Marquis]

Well, Wright is captain of team Canada, and that Canadian team played like a bunch of spoiled privileged egomaniacs who believe they can just lace up and be crowned kings, like they are owed a gold medal and don't have to work for it. Not one but two of those damn show off Michigan goal attempts. They were an individualist dysfunctional team.
So part of that goes at the coaching, which obviously failed, and the second part goes to the leadership and that's where Wright has to show he's a leader (if he is) and get those brats into shape. We will see if they have it in them or not. It's a true test.

This seems overly harsh on an 18 year old kid after a single game. I’d argue it’s all on coaching I. This type of situation. Your leadership needs time to develop, this is a short tournament where that can’t realistically be built by anybody other than the coach.

 

[Sad People]

This seems overly harsh on an 18 year old kid after a single game. I’d argue it’s all on coaching I. This type of situation. Your leadership needs time to develop, this is a short tournament where that can’t realistically be built by anybody other than the coach.

I kind agree with this as well.


Also makes me wonder if anything of it has to do with stuff going on outside of the tournament right now.

 

[majormajor]

I thought Wright did his job in game 1. Good positional play and got a goal.

Team Canada is kind of poorly constructed with all shooters up front so they don't really complement each other, Wright included. He's not a comfortable puck carrier. I'm not very pleased with how the team is set up. You'd like Wright to be with a great playmaker (I've had Dumais on my mind for that role).

 

[gstommylee]

Well, Wright is captain of team Canada, and that Canadian team played like a bunch of spoiled privileged egomaniacs who believe they can just lace up and be crowned kings, like they are owed a gold medal and don't have to work for it. Not one but two of those damn show off Michigan goal attempts. They were an individualist dysfunctional team.
So part of that goes at the coaching, which obviously failed, and the second part goes to the leadership and that's where Wright has to show he's a leader (if he is) and get those brats into shape. We will see if they have it in them or not. It's a true test.

Having some other player with the C wouldn't make a darn difference in yesterdays game.

 

[GrungeHockey]

This seems overly harsh on an 18 year old kid after a single game. I’d argue it’s all on coaching I. This type of situation. Your leadership needs time to develop, this is a short tournament where that can’t realistically be built by anybody other than the coach.

I do admit to it being harsh but I've watched this tournament for years and this team just feels more full of prima donas than some of the others. Smug and arrogant stuff like these attempted Michigan goals just irritates me. Anyone who attempts one in the NHL deserves a smack in the face imo.
I accept that 18 year olds have growing to do, but if you don't have a work ethic by 18 you might never have one. This is in no way all on Shane Wright, but he was named captain, he is older than some of them, and he has been touted as a future leadership type so I hope we see it.

 

[majormajor]

I thought Wright did his job in game 1. Good positional play and got a goal.

Team Canada is kind of poorly constructed with all shooters up front so they don't really complement each other, Wright included. He's not a comfortable puck carrier. I'm not very pleased with how the team is set up. You'd like Wright to be with a great playmaker (I've had Dumais on my mind for that role).

Ok a bit disappointed in Wright tonight.

Canada nearly got knocked out and he didn't do a thing. I don't compare him to Bedard at all, but he should be able to push a top six line in this tournament, if not carry such a line entirely.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

According to EmeraldCityHockey(during their last podcast) Kingston has received at least a handfull of trade offers for Wright if he ever get's send back to the OHL:

 

[Jeffrey Pedler]

the issue is that Matty was in NCAA which is better than the OHL with older and stronger competition - the perfect place to let kids develop. Once they are ready, be it D+1, +2, +3 etc... they will get called/signed.

the OHL is junior (precursor), but IMO antiquated. I have always been a huge fan of NCAA and Scholastic pathway, as the current US development system, U18 National Team playing in USHL is so much better.. not to mention all the other great players who wont make the NHL will at least get a scholarship and education to fall back on.

In no way is the NCAA better than the OHL, in terms of developing talent. If that were the case the NCAA should make up a majority of NHL players as opposed to 53% of Players being from the CHL.

 

[Cournoyer12]

That one look at the draft he directed to the Montreal table seems to have Wright pegged as a villain around the NHL by fans who have never met him, people who forget that he was an 18 year old kid.
If he had a bad attitude that affected where he was picked then it’s on him to correct it and mature, and the Kraken will ensure he does, but the amount of people almost rooting for him to fail is ridiculous.
He’s going to be a solid NHLer.

You’re right my friend, people rooting for someone to fail is just plain dark. Especially against an 18 year old! Cut the kid some slack, it’s not like he did something wrong. How many of us have done way worse than a glaring look at someone at that age! Coming from a Habs fan.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Ok a bit disappointed in Wright tonight.

Canada nearly got knocked out and he didn't do a thing. I don't compare him to Bedard at all, but he should be able to push a top six line in this tournament, if not carry such a line entirely.

Bedard is SO GOOD it's hard to measure anybody else on Canada but it's true, Wright hasn't stood out so far.

Next game is time to shine for sure. If he's got something now's the time to bring it.