Bob McKenzie Explains Why Wright's Stock Dropped & Why Slafkovsky Rose to 1

Semi-retired legend Bob McKenzie was awfully quiet heading into draft season, and many were puzzled at the lack of draft content out of TSN thus far. The NHL Entry Draft is only a short nine days away, and draft rankings are all over the place. McKenzie's draft list is a product of polling ten NHL scouts, and it took the hockey world by storm. McKenzie has been one of the public's top authorities on prospect profiling, so when his list drops each year the people listen.

This year's rankings listed Juraj Slafkovsky as the #1 prospect after Shane Wright held that spot for the better part of two years. Naturally, a week ahead of the draft that listing sent waves across the hockey world. McKenzie, on SportsCentre, detailed why Wright's stock dropped this season:

He admits his list is subjective from the standpoints of the ten scouts he interviewed, but then again talent scouting is entirely subjective. When asked why Slafkovsky edged out Wright, McKenzie alluded to his dominant performances at the Olympic & World Championships that really blew scouts away. Those tournaments plus the fact he is 6'4'' is turning heads, but there is much discourse over the emphasis scouts ought to put on international play. Often times, strong international players struggle to translate their games to the NHL due to smaller surfaces, tighter competition, and more rigid systems. So is Slafkovsky a bonafide stud or a cautionary tale in recency bias? Only time will tell.

Further to McKenzie's reporting, he believes this draft contains more confusion from top-to-bottom compared to past drafts. Generally, there is some sort of consensus, at least at the top of the draft, but top-down there is no quorum. The lack of certainty breeds extra excitement, then factor in the number of high quality trade bait out there & it gets extra spicy. Kevin Fiala, Alex Debrincat, Pierre-Luc Dubois are each reportedly available, so teams looking to improve quickly have options with their draft picks this summer.

The NHL Draft will be held in Montreal starting July 7, and Montreal is picking first. They have a lot to sort out between now & then, as the number one prospect has yet to be agreed upon. Will they take Slafkovsky or Wright? In a draft with this level of ambiguity, it might pay to swing for the fences & target players with the most upside.

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