2022 NHL Mock Draft: Shane Wright goes No. 1 in post-Lottery edition
Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens. They will both be hosting the 2022 NHL Draft and picking No. 1, which is a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, you get the pick of an entire class. On the other hand, there’s enough of an expectation of who Montreal should pick that the pressure on that player is going to be especially intense.
We now know the order in which the first 16 teams will be able to select. The big winner of the lottery was the New Jersey Devils, who will now pick second overall. Without the lottery win, New Jersey would have picked fifth. Instead, the Devils now have three Top 2 picks in the last six drafts.
In a lot of ways, the pressure is off for the Devils as I’m not sure widely-regarded No. 1 overall prospect Shane Wright would have been the best fit for them with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier down the middle already.
Additionally, the Chicago Blackhawks will relinquish the No. 6 overall pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the Seth Jones trade. They would have only kept the pick if it was in the top two. And the Vegas Golden Knights gave up No. 16 to the Buffalo Sabres in the Jack Eichel trade, as that pick was Top 10 protected.
So, if you’ve read my work before, you know the drill.
The mock draft is not tied to my personal rankings. My final draft rankings will be out in about a month, but this is what I think teams would do given the information we have available now.
There’s a lot of guess work at this stage, but we use things like draft tendencies, system needs, chatter around the scouting world and whatever else at our disposal to give you the best feel for the way things are trending right now.
So here’s a quick 16-team Mock Draft coming out of the lottery.
1. Montreal Canadiens: Shane Wright, C, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
This year’s draft has not produced a “generational” player, but it has a top end that is good enough to make a positive impact in the draft. The Habs have a solid No. 1 center in Nick Suzuki, but could really use a dynamite No. 2. In the long-term, Wright may best fit the bill. He has good two-way capabilities, high end hockey sense and a goal-scorer’s shot.
Habs fans may need to exercise some patience with Wright who has not progressed at the level most of us expected him to given his U16 season in the OHL. Not playing anywhere last year probably plays a role, but other players who missed last season managed to take larger steps. As of right now, he’s the No. 1 guy, but don’t be shocked to learn that consensus is not nearly as unanimous as most thought it would be coming into this season.
2. New Jersey Devils: Juraj Slafkovsky, LW, TPS (Liiga)
The Devils are in a great spot at two. The pressure is off and I don’t think Wright would have been the best fit anyway. So now they can go in a lot of different directions. The best one is probably to go with the big scoring winger who plays the game with power and skill. I like Slafkovsky a lot, but I still have concern with his entire body of work this season as he did not produce like a projected top-line winger in Liiga this season. The Devils can further bolster their forward group with a high-upside forward who also has the size they could use up front.
3. Arizona Coyotes: Logan Cooley, C, U.S. National Under-18 Team
The most dynamic player in this draft as far as I’m concerned, Cooley checks a lot of boxes. He’s among the most explosive skaters in this draft and has lightning quick hands to match. The only thing that Cooley doesn’t have is a big frame, but I do think he has arguably the best potential among forwards in this draft. The Coyotes can allow Cooley, who was named best forward at the U18 World Championship, to develop at Minnesota before bringing him into the fold.
4. Seattle Kraken: Simon Nemec, RD, HK Nitra (Slovakia)
The Kraken already have their No. 1 center in Matty Beniers and now they can add a potential building-block defenseman at No. 4. Nemec has hovered around the top tier of this draft, but has entered the top-four conversation in a real way late this season. With 17 points in 19 playoff games in the Slovakian pro league, Nemec’s season has continued to build and he’s generated a ton of buzz. Some scouts detoured from the U18s to watch Nemec in Slovakia and he greatly impressed them there. He has top-four upside with a ceiling of top pairing.
5. Philadelphia Flyers: Cutter Gauthier, LW, U.S. National Under-18 Team
One of the fastest-rising players in the draft class, Gauthier has size, good hands, a high-end shot and a motor that allows him to win a lot of battles. The Flyers have some good pieces in their system on the backend, but have a lot of work to do on making their forward group more threatening offensively. Gauthier could be the power winger that adds an element they probably don’t have enough of.
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (via Chicago): David Jiricek, RD, HC Plzen (Czechia)
A 6-foot-3, right-shot defenseman who can absolutely hammer the puck, Jiricek has been sidelined since the World Juniors after sustaining a knee injury. He’s since returned and played well enough to make Czechia’s senior team for the Men’s World Championship. He has excellent offensive instincts and good mobility. The Blue Jackets have a blue line with a lot of offensive talent, but Jiricek might be one of the best goal-scoring threats among defensemen in the last few years.
7. Ottawa Senators: Joakim Kemell, RW, JYP (Liiga)
Will Kemell slip this far? It’s not likely, but it’s possible given the wide variance in opinions on who teams believe is in the top tier. Should it happen, this would appear to be an easy decision for Ottawa. They’d add another dynamic winger and simply get the best player available if things were to break right.
8. Detroit Red Wings: Danila Yurov, RW, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
As an organization that has traditionally not shied away from top Russian players, I don’t anticipate they would be scared off of Yurov, who has been among the top prospects all season. He’s under contract for just one more year in the KHL. The Red Wings can’t land a guy that is going to come in right away in this range anyway. The only concern, outside of the obvious geopolitical considerations, would be if Yurov gets enough ice time next season. When he played with the pro team, he barely saw the ice. He was too good for the U20 league, so hopefully he gets the proper development one way or another.
9. Buffalo Sabres: Frank Nazar, C, U.S. National Under-18 Team
The Sabres are going to filter in a number of quality prospects in the next season or two. That takes some pressure off of this pick to hurry the process. By taking a player like Nazar, the Sabres can let him go to the Michigan developing and getting himself ready for when Buffalo needs him. Nazar is an especially skilled, creative forward with speed that alleviates concerns about his size.
10. Anaheim Ducks: Kevin Korchinski, LD, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
The Ducks have a good long-term top-pairing defenseman in right-shot Jamie Drysdale, but could bolster that blue line with a left-shot puck mover. Korchinski is a 6-foot-2 rearguard who has higher-end offensive capabilities and moves the puck at a high level. He still needs to work on defending. But he would allow Anaheim to continue building a blue line that gets pucks up ice efficiently. Korchinski has been one of the real risers in this class and only continues to build a case for himself to go high in the first round.
11. San Jose Sharks: Pavel Mintyukov, LD, Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
The chance to pick up an offensive defenseman who scored 17 goals this season and has 62 points in 67 games might be too enticing to pass up in this range. Mintyukov is an average defender, but can he ever move pucks. When and if the Sharks move on from some of their older blueliners, Mintyukov could help usher in a new era on the San Jose blue line.
12. Columbus Blue Jackets: Matthew Savoie, C, Winnipeg ICE (WHL)
After grabbing a big defenseman with their earlier pick in this mock, the Blue Jackets can go back to building up their forward corps. Columbus significantly bolstered its prospect system with three first-rounders in the last draft. Now they have two top-12 picks and can continue to focus on high-end skill players. I don’t know that Savoie will slip this far, but he has trended down a little bit over the season. Still, he had 90 points in 65 games with Winnipeg and has shown some dynamic elements as well as high compete.
13. New York Islanders: Conor Geekie, C, Winnipeg ICE (WHL)
The Isles have a bit of a shallower pipeline down the middle. Geekie has been a somewhat polarizing prospect as he had average production and there’s very valid concerns about his skating. However, Geekie has a high level of hockey sense and comes in at 6-foot-4, 205, while projecting as a solid middle-six, two-way center. He just turned 18 in May and took a big step this season.
14. Winnipeg Jets: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Djurgardens (Sweden)
With most of the best defensemen off the board, I don’t think it would make sense for the Jets to reach here, necessarily. Getting a legit scoring winger who has high-end offensive instincts and is fresh off of a tournament-leading 15 points at the U18 Worlds would be great value at 14. I’m not overly convinced Lekkerimaki will last this long with the way his stock has risen. He had a real eye-opening season, scoring seven goals in 26 games in the SHL and then dominating U18s – after losing a month to illness. Lekkerimaki is very much a stylistic fit to how the Jets have historically played as well.
15. Vancouver Canucks: Rutger McGroarty, LW, U.S. National Under-18 Team
If the Canucks have any desire of getting grittier and stronger while not giving much away for offense, McGroarty would make a lot of sense. Just shy of 6-foot-1 and over 200 pounds, he is an absolute handful in front of the net. McGroarty can also score from distance with a high-end shot. His footspeed is the biggest concern at this point because all of his other tools translate favorably to the NHL. It will be interesting to see how Patrik Allvin handles his first draft at the helm, especially since the Penguins so rarely had a first-rounder during his tenure there.
16. Buffalo Sabres (via Vegas): Marco Kasper, C, Rogle (Sweden)
An Austrian playing in Sweden, Kasper played a regular shift for the team that reached the SHL’s final this season. Kasper had just 11 points in 46 games, but netted six points in 13 postseason contests. He has good size and strength and can play with a nasty streak. I think he’s rising up a lot of boards and looks like he could be a good fit in the future middle six of the Sabres. Buffalo has a lot of centers in the system, but I’m not sure they have one quite like Kasper.