Some scouts say top draft spot is up for grabs; have concerns regarding Shane Wright's play so far
On Thursday, TSN's Bob McKenzie released his mid-season rankings for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to compiling his list, McKenzie interviews scouts for their input how certain players have preformed up to this point in the season.
McKenzie said that some of the scouts, despite still having him ranking number one, have concerns with Shane Wright and how his season has gone thus far.
"I think [Wright's] first half-performance has left the door open for someone to unseat him," one scout said while another added, "[No. 1] is absolutely still up for grabs."
Through 25 games this season with the Ontario Hockey League's Kingston Frontenacs, Wright has put up 31 points (12 G, 19 A), which is still good, but not near where scouts say a top ranked prospect should be.
"Wright's game this season has lacked any sort of 'wow' factor or 'dynamic' aspect," Bob McKenzie said.
"His engagement has been good, his production underwhelming given the expectations," one scout said. "Overall, I could say [Wright] is an above-average prospect but not where you would think a No. 1 overall pick should be."
"He's not played with enough urgency or determination," said another scout. "He's not been carrying his team or competitive enough in puck battles. He really needs to step it up in the second half."
The good news for Shane is that he has 39 regular season games remaining plus playoffs to prove to the scouts that he is capable of being an elite centerman in the NHL and worthy of going first overall in July's draft.
Source: TSN.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||