Which player should the Mtl Canadiens pick with their 1 st choice?

[schwang26]

You don't stray from the consensus number 1. I believe he's ranked number 1 by every ranking/scouting organization out there. I know there isn't a huge gap between 1 and 3, but it would be stupid to pass on the consensus number 1. You just don't do that.

A team can't move up by winning the lottery more than twice in a five year span.

Twice is all they need.

 

[Bacchus1]

Will there be any more tournaments before the draft where we can see the draft aged kids play? Too bad the 2022 U20 won't be until a month later. It would be super helpful to see them play. I would actually be a strong advocate of delaying the draft until after that tournament was played.

 

[DAChampion]

You don't stray from the consensus number 1. I believe he's ranked number 1 by every ranking/scouting organization out there. I know there isn't a huge gap between 1 and 3, but it would be stupid to pass on the consensus number 1. You just don't do that.


Twice is all they need.

I remember when some posters suggested that Matt Duchene would have a better career than John Tavares.

They were wrong, but Victor Hedman actually did end up having a better career.

 

[SOLR]

Wright has a bigger ceiling than Suzuki does.

Nope. Not at all. Suzuki is actually Bergeron. Wright is Tavares with a better D. Bergeron > Tavares not even a fair comparison.

 

[Deebs]

Nope. Not at all. Suzuki is actually Bergeron. Wright is Tavares with a better D. Bergeron > Tavares not even a fair comparison.

Since all the hockey people compare Wright to Bergeron, I guess we'll have 2.... I'm good with that

 

[Schooner Guy]

Will there be any more tournaments before the draft where we can see the draft aged kids play? Too bad the 2022 U20 won't be until a month later. It would be super helpful to see them play. I would actually be a strong advocate of delaying the draft until after that tournament was played.

Wright's in OHL playoffs right now. Slaf, Nemec and Jiricek will be in World Championship starting in a couple of days. Cooley and Kemell just finished up at the WU18. Not sure if they have any chance to play in Worlds. Lots of recent and still to come key games for these prospects.

Nope. Not at all. Suzuki is actually Bergeron. Wright is Tavares with a better D. Bergeron > Tavares not even a fair comparison.

Suzuki's nothing like Bergeron. Bergeron is a far better defensive player and both have different attributes. Krejci is a better Suzuki comparison.

 

[SOLR]

That's not an unreasonable way to see it for sure.

All things considered, Wright is the pick. We'll see how it pans how.

I actually don't see Wright as the safe pick. I see him as the highest upside. If we get "plateau" Wright, in the absolute worst case we may even get a dud. But if we get the Wright that burned the OHL as a 15 years old, we actually have an elite, tall center with very high compete level on our hands.

Anyway, I am probably overthinking it too

Edit: But then I read posts like these and I am "terrified":
F Shane Wright - Kingston Frontenacs, OHL (2022 Draft) Part 2

I don't see him as the safest or the highest upside.

Highest upside is Nemec (scary high IQ).
Safest is Jiricek (he's already here).

Wright is in the top 5-10 at everything, but he ain't the best at anything.

Wright is not good enough to be the default choice. You need to have a clear vision of how to surround him. If we can pair him with Jager (next year), fine. We need to be intentional from the point we draft him to make it work or he won't be what we want him to be, he can't. Suzuki will remain our best center unless we get Bedard/Fantilli/Dvorsky/Carlsson next year.

Since all the hockey people compare Wright to Bergeron, I guess we'll have 2.... I'm good with that

No scout compares Wright to Bergeron. Tavares is the scouts' comparison.

Wright compares himself to Bergeron.
It's bollocks and one of the reasons I don't like Wright, he doesn't know what he is.

 

[NotProkofievian]

There is just no reason for us to pick a bust. Shane wont bust, I think he's going to make some people on this board delete their accounts. But let's say you didn't like his draft season. Fine, pick Nemec. He's not going to bust at all. He'd need the help of a heroin addiction to bust, while we can argue about his ultimate upside. Want a forward? Pick Cooley. We don't have to take a single risk here, there are multiple options for whom the bust potential is nill.

Because of that, the rest of the draft, we should take the highest upside player possible. Risk is of no matter, we're already leaving the draft with an impact player.

 

[KevSkillz4]

There is just no reason for us to pick a bust. Shane wont bust, I think he's going to make some people on this board delete their accounts. But let's say you didn't like his draft season. Fine, pick Nemec. He's not going to bust at all. He'd need the help of a heroin addiction to bust, while we can argue about his ultimate upside. Want a forward? Pick Cooley. We don't have to take a single risk here, there are multiple options for whom the bust potential is nill.

Because of that, the rest of the draft, we should take the highest upside player possible. Risk is of no matter, we're already leaving the draft with an impact player.

This.

Shane Wright is a fantastic player... and he will gonna prove it with Montreal.

Can't wait to see him in Habs uniform, he is going to join Suzuki and Caufield. (that's going to be fun to watch).

 

[morhilane]

No scout compares Wright to Bergeron. Tavares is the scouts' comparison.

Wright compares himself to Bergeron.
It's bollocks and one of the reasons I don't like Wright, he doesn't know what he is.

I've seen scouts compare him to Bergeron, McKinnon and Tavares. It just depends who you are reading and what they are looking at.

 

[Paddy17]

I get that some posters have reserves about picking Wright 1st overall as he's had some flaws in his game this season, but with this guy's track record, I have a hard time seeing us pass over that type of player. Something bugs me in a major way in Kingston. The coach, the style of play, his teammates....I don't know, something is off.

I wonder how he'd have looked playing for a team like London.

Hugues understands the influence of what he calls "context", meaning the environment, coaching, system, teammates and opportunity. Being a former agent, he knows how athletes think and what each player needs to succeed, because he constantly talks to his clients about said-context.

He's going to pick Wright, and he knows there's a lot more to the kid's potential than what the critics have said about him.

Don't worry, he's going to be good.

 

[jaffy27]

So does S. Leroux.

I think JiC will be the same.



Yeah, as we get closer to the draft, I'm hoping we see more threads talking about who will get with the Flames pick, since we know who we're taking 1st overall.

Leroux is a big time Wright fan.....with the 2nd first round pick though I can see RDS and TVA pushing for Gaucher or Luneau....

I' m personally pushing for Schaefer or Nyman with the 2nd first rounder.....I'm good with Gaucher in the 2nd round if both aforementioned players are gone by the time we start day two of the draft.

I've seen scouts compare him to Bergeron, McKinnon and Tavares. It just depends who you are reading and what they are looking at.

seems he has that strong two way play of Bergeron but with the shot and offensive flair of a McKinnon.

 

[HomaridII]

I've seen scouts compare him to Bergeron, McKinnon and Tavares. It just depends who you are reading and what they are looking at.

Wright up to the covid pandemic had better stats than Mcdavid . Even in last year's world juniors he had better stats than Mcdavid at the same exact same age.

The huge difference is the draft year where mcdavid catapulted to over two points per game. Wright will have to answer the questions repeatedly about why he scored 39 goals at 15 at 15/16 and 32 at 18, why his goals per game in the playoffs have been cut to 1/3 as an 18 year old, why he can't seem to score against better teams like North Bay, why he seems disinterested at times and makes a lot of neutral zones mistakes.

Me? I think it's a product of being in your third OHL year and in a shitty team with a shitty coach, no structure, no talent around you. Think Caufield in the fourth line under Ducharme.

But make no mistake, compare their stats up to his draft year at all levels and competitions and he was better than Mcdavid. It's why he is only the third person to be granted exceptional status.

 

[Deebs]

I don't see him as the safest or the highest upside.

Highest upside is Nemec (scary high IQ).
Safest is Jiricek (he's already here).

Wright is in the top 5-10 at everything, but he ain't the best at anything.

Wright is not good enough to be the default choice. You need to have a clear vision of how to surround him. If we can pair him with Jager (next year), fine. We need to be intentional from the point we draft him to make it work or he won't be what we want him to be, he can't. Suzuki will remain our best center unless we get Bedard/Fantilli/Dvorsky/Carlsson next year.


No scout compares Wright to Bergeron. Tavares is the scouts' comparison.

Wright compares himself to Bergeron.
It's bollocks and one of the reasons I don't like Wright, he doesn't know what he is.

All the best.

 

[HomaridII]

At 15 mcdavid 25 goals, wright 39.

World Jr's at 16 last summer, wright 9 goals in 5 games despite missing the entire year of hockey due to covid. Mcdavid 8 in 7 at the same age.

So it's about this year and how you evaluate the impact of the pandemic and the break from hockey. Or is it because that's it, that's as good as he will ever be?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Nope. Not at all. Suzuki is actually Bergeron. Wright is Tavares with a better D. Bergeron > Tavares not even a fair comparison.

I'll wait and see on Wright. Haven't watched him yet so I can't say.

But people here overrate Suzuki wildly. And if Wright's ceiling is Suzuki, that kinda sucks for us.

 

[SOLR]

I'll wait and see on Wright. Haven't watched him yet so I can't say.

But people here overrate Suzuki wildly. And if Wright's ceiling is Suzuki, that kinda sucks for us.

Wright's ceiling is a good 2nd center on a contender, I don't think we are drafting the first center. Cooley is more creative and has more chance to become that, also more chance to bust. He could also be good if we give him an elite winger like Yager next year. Imo he cannot be the alpha on his line, that's not him. He's the cerebral guy.

I'm fairly positive that Suzuki is improving every year still, in the mould of Bergeron, and he's one level of improvement away from 30 goals - 40 passes +30 - ie. an elite defensive #1C like Bergeron that you supplement with guys like Caufield to bring the offence.

I've seen scouts compare him to Bergeron, McKinnon and Tavares. It just depends who you are reading and what they are looking at.

Bergeron and McKinnon are stupid comparisons, period. Wright is not a bulldog, not the alpha on his line. Ever. Not at any level. He's just hard to on the puck, true, but he plays a cerebral game.

Krejci is an actual good comparison.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Wright up to the covid pandemic had better stats than Mcdavid . Even in last year's world juniors he had better stats than Mcdavid at the same exact same age.

The huge difference is the draft year where mcdavid catapulted to over two points per game. Wright will have to answer the questions repeatedly about why he scored 39 goals at 15 at 15/16 and 32 at 18, why his goals per game in the playoffs have been cut to 1/3 as an 18 year old, why he can't seem to score against better teams like North Bay, why he seems disinterested at times and makes a lot of neutral zones mistakes.

Me? I think it's a product of being in your third OHL year and in a shitty team with a shitty coach, no structure, no talent around you. Think Caufield in the fourth line under Ducharme.

But make no mistake, compare their stats up to his draft year at all levels and competitions and he was better than Mcdavid. It's why he is only the third person to be granted exceptional status.

He was the 5th to get ES, after Tavares, Ekblad, McDavid and Day.

Future superstar Michael Misa also got added recently.

At 15 mcdavid 25 goals, wright 39.

World Jr's at 16 last summer, wright 9 goals in 5 games despite missing the entire year of hockey due to covid. Mcdavid 8 in 7 at the same age.

So it's about this year and how you evaluate the impact of the pandemic and the break from hockey. Or is it because that's it, that's as good as he will ever be?

Wright is in good company for sure, but also consider McD had 25 goals and Tavares had 45 goals while being a few months younger in their respective rookie seasons.

 

[Harry Wong]

When asked by Sportsnet what the top thing he is looking for in the draft, Hughes said "Character".

 

[LaP]

When asked by Sportsnet what the top thing he is looking for in the draft, Hughes said "Character".

As long as by character he means player with actual character on the ice and not player with rispek who play the "white" way then it's fine character really is important. Rispek not so much.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Wright up to the covid pandemic had better stats than Mcdavid . Even in last year's world juniors he had better stats than Mcdavid at the same exact same age.

The huge difference is the draft year where mcdavid catapulted to over two points per game. Wright will have to answer the questions repeatedly about why he scored 39 goals at 15 at 15/16 and 32 at 18, why his goals per game in the playoffs have been cut to 1/3 as an 18 year old, why he can't seem to score against better teams like North Bay, why he seems disinterested at times and makes a lot of neutral zones mistakes.

Me? I think it's a product of being in your third OHL year and in a shitty team with a shitty coach, no structure, no talent around you. Think Caufield in the fourth line under Ducharme.

But make no mistake, compare their stats up to his draft year at all levels and competitions and he was better than Mcdavid. It's why he is only the third person to be granted exceptional status.

Wrote this on the main thread on the boards earlier. I'll just repost an edited version of it here:


Wright put up 1.74 points per game after a slow start. He's been an exceptional player all his life. Yes, this year's a bit of a disapointment but up until this point he's been incredible.

So... why this year? We know he had injury, off year for covid, is playing for a bad coach... lots of reasons for an off year. To me, these are temporary things.

The best predictor of future success is past performance. This guy had the term 'generational' talent thrown around as he grew up. His current year doesn't measure up to that but I think his resume suggests that he's got franchise talent. Maybe not generational but... who cares?

We'll see. I haven't seen this guy play so my opinions are based on circumstances rather than viewing so I can't be very firm in my opinions here. I felt this way before Montreal was selected to draft him and feel the same way now.

His ceiling is franchise player. However, that certainly doesn't mean he'll hit it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

As long as by character he means player with actual character on the ice and not player with rispek who play the "white" way then it's fine character really is important. Rispek not so much.

Can't wait for him to do a triple low five with Price or whoever is in nets for us...

 

[dcyhabs]

Wright up to the covid pandemic had better stats than Mcdavid . Even in last year's world juniors he had better stats than Mcdavid at the same exact same age.

The huge difference is the draft year where mcdavid catapulted to over two points per game. Wright will have to answer the questions repeatedly about why he scored 39 goals at 15 at 15/16 and 32 at 18, why his goals per game in the playoffs have been cut to 1/3 as an 18 year old, why he can't seem to score against better teams like North Bay, why he seems disinterested at times and makes a lot of neutral zones mistakes.

Me? I think it's a product of being in your third OHL year and in a shitty team with a shitty coach, no structure, no talent around you. Think Caufield in the fourth line under Ducharme.

But make no mistake, compare their stats up to his draft year at all levels and competitions and he was better than Mcdavid. It's why he is only the third person to be granted exceptional status.

Wright made some comments in interviews about how easy it was to play with better players, to get on the same page and just play naturally. He seems to be a guy who makes everyone better but doesn't just do it all himself or carry his line, so there is at least a possibility that he will be much better at the NHL level with linemates who can keep up. On the other hand he played with some pre-junior friends in his first junior year and that may have helped.

It reminds me of how Leblanc was sort of mystified as to why his game went to pieces with the habs, but he played a somewhat similar style that probably wasn't helped playing with NHL 3rd liners and was actively destroyed playing with AHL 3rd liners. When you make calculated passes for mediocre players to bang off the glass it's got to be tough.

I think 5 players have had exceptional status in the OHL, it's just that two recent ones busted, or has Veleno busted yet? Oh, 3 NHL players?

Edit: obvious concern is that McDavid and others made a developmental leap that Wright just didn't. His floor is still pretty high, but a lot of players in this draft may have a higher ceiling that most of them won't reach. Sabres or Blue Jackets will probably come out with the top player in the draft, 4 highish picks between them.

 

[Doublechin]

The Bergeron comparaison is a joke, so is the Tavares one, a better and more realistic upside is Elias Lindholm. Can score 34 and even 40 on very hot years assuming he's well surrounded but I don't think he will become an elite 2 way Center as some think he will be

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

Shane Wright. How is this a poll? Is the draft that deep, or the opposite?