Let’s make one thing clear from the get-go: The 2022 NHL Draft is the Shane Wright Draft.

The Kingston Frontenacs’ centre is the unanimous No. 1 on TSN’s Pre-Season 2022 NHL Draft Rankings. Ten out of 10 scouts surveyed by TSN identified the 6-foot, 185-pound Burlington, Ont., native as the clear-cut choice.

And, until further notice, they say it’s not even close.

“No. 1 this year is his to lose,” said an NHL team head scout. “It would take him having an unusually poor year and someone else having a surprisingly good season for him to not be No. 1 [next July].”

This should come as no surprise for a prospect who was awarded “exceptional” status by Hockey Canada in 2019, which allowed him to enter the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old, a year earlier than usual, and who was Canadian Hockey League rookie of the year in 2020 after his first OHL season in Kingston.

In fact, not only is it highly likely he’ll be No. 1 at the 2022 NHL draft on July 7-8 in Montreal, but he also quite probably would have been No. 1 overall in last summer’s 2021 NHL draft had he been eligible.

Blue-chip prospect University of Michigan defenceman Owen Power went No. 1 overall to the Buffalo Sabres last July. Power will play for the Wolverines this season. He and Wright are quite likely to be teammates on Canada’s national junior team at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton.

Most of the 10 scouts who ranked Wright No. 1 to start this season said, in a hypothetical world, he would have been ahead of Power last year.

“No doubt about that,” said another NHL team head scout.

Scouts tend to favour potential No. 1 NHL centres over top-pair defencemen, not unlike 2009 when John Tavares went first ahead of Victor Hedman at No. 2. Of course, given the benefit of hindsight, a lot of those same scouts might now prefer the big defenceman over the centre.

ContentId(1.1700444): Wright shares his greatest asset as a player, tries to model game after Bergeron, Crosby

And the old hypothetical saw can always cut both ways. That is to say, there are those in the scouting community who will tell you right now that one of the projected top prospects for 2023, Regina Pats centre Connor Bedard, could go No. 1 ahead of Wright if Bedard were eligible in 2022.

So, let’s get back to the original premise in the here and now: Wright starts this season as the undisputed top prospect, who is universally projected to be a high-end No. 1 NHL centre.

“He’s not a generational talent; he’s not Connor McDavid,” said another NHL head scout. “But he has all the tools to make you strongly believe he’ll not only be a No. 1 centre in the NHL but have a chance to be amongst the better players in the NHL.”

Wright can do it all. He’s not an elite skater but he is a strong skater. His shot is excellent, and while some scouts believe he’ll have more goals than assists in any given NHL season, he’s also a very good playmaker who makes everyone he plays with better. He’s smart but he’s also got some grit in his game. He leads by example. Outstanding work ethic and character is viewed as A+.

“I think he can adjust his game accordingly,” another scout said. “If he’s playing with an elite goal scorer, I could see him being the elite playmaker. If he’s playing with a high-end playmaking winger, I could see him being more of an elite goal-scoring centre like (Steven) Stamkos or (Auston) Matthews. His shot is excellent but so his vision. Outstanding competitiveness and leadership.”

While Wright’s game without the puck is still a work in progress, he has already demonstrated a strong desire to play the complete 200-foot game, like the player he models himself after — Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.

“Wright is going to be a hybrid No. 1 centre,” one scout said. “He has a lot of the same qualities as Jonathan Toews. Not necessarily elite or the absolute best in any one area, but excellent in all areas.”

Because the OHL didn’t play any games last season due to the pandemic, Wright barely played any games in 2020-21, but he made the most of his limited opportunities. He scored nine goals and 14 points in only five games while captaining Team Canada to a gold medal at the Under-18 World Championship last April in Texas.

All that despite suffering a cracked bone in his foot in the first game, experiencing a rash all over his body after the second game, and missing a couple of games while battling through strep throat the rest of the tournament.

So, Wright is teed up as the clear top prospect for 2022, but now he must play the games and prove he’s worthy of the mantle.
 

1. Shane Wright

2. Ivan Miroshnichenko

3. Brad Lambert

4. Juraj Slafkovsky

5. Connor Geekie

 

6. Logan Cooley

7. Matt Savoie

8. Danila Yurov

9. Joakim Kemmell

10. David Jiricek

 

11. Simon Nemec

12. Rutger McGroarty

13. Jonathan Lekkerimaki

14. Elias Salmonsson

15. Nathan Gaucher

16. Ryan Chesley

Honourable Mentions

 Isaac Howard

Tristan Luneau

Denton Mateychuk

Danny Zhilkin