Shane Wright says he didn’t stare down Montreal Canadiens draft table

Shane Wright denies staring down the Montreal Canadiens at the 2022 NHL Draft on Sunday.

Wright appeared on Blue Jays Central when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Seattle Mariners in Seattle last weekend, and cleared the air on the matter.

“Not at all, no,” Wright said. “I was just looking at the cameras in front of me. To be honest, I don’t really remember too much of going up on stage. It was just kind of a whirlwind for me. I wasn’t intentionally trying to stare anyone down, I guess, maybe it looked like that from the video, or whatever it was.”

The incident in question occurred at the 2022 Draft, when Wright fell to fourth overall. He was projected to be the top pick of the draft, but the Montreal Canadiens instead went with winger Juraj Slafkovsky. Wright continued to fall as the New Jersey Devils instead went with defenseman Simon Nemec and the Arizona Coyotes drafted center Logan Cooley, before the Seattle Kraken selected him at fourth overall. Wright then appeared to stare down the Canadiens draft table when shaking NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s hand on the draft stage, but it seems that that wasn’t the case according to Wright.

Wright is one of eight players granted exceptional status in the CHL, joining the Kingston Frontenacs in the 2019-20 season at age 15. He had 39 goals, 27 assists, and 66 points in his rookie season before missing his entire second season due to the OHL’s cancelling the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned in 2021-22 for his draft year, with 32 goals, 62 assists, and 94 points in 63 games.

Wright joins a Kraken team that didn’t quite have the debut season they wanted, considering the success of the Vegas Golden Knights just four seasons prior. Wright and 2021 second overall pick Matty Beniers give the Kraken a strong center duo for the future.