Rumour: Shane Wright rubbing people the wrong way in Seattle
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Scores of Habs fans showed up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft wearing t-shirts that said "make the Wright pick", so when the Canadiens stepped up to the podium and announced Juraj Slafkovsky's name with the number one pick of the draft, a wave of silence and concern set in with the fanbase wondering what had happened to make the Habs turn on Shane Wright, who was the consensus number one pick in the 2022 draft for 2-3 years.
After the draft, rumours began to swirl that Wright had interviewed poorly with several teams, including the Habs, which planted a seed of doubt in their minds about the player. That, combined with Slafkovsky's size, scoring ability, work ethic and meteoric rise during the second half of the year seemed to make the decision an easy one for the Habs. When Wright slipped 2 additional spots, falling to pick #4, it confirmed something that everyone was wondering. There had to be some sort of an attitude issue there.
On a recent French podcast, Mathias Brunet commented on a chat that he had with someone in Seattle with BPM Sports, stating that Wright was a challenge to deal with at times during training camp. Here' some of what he had to say:
Shane Wright scored a great goal in an inter-squad game with 10 seconds remaining, the winning goal. A typical shot, a good shot! And he (Dave Hakstol, the Kraken head coach) said, "You got the goal and I got a lot of other stuff"
I am an open-minded person. Just because people like (Juraj) Slafkovsky doesn't mean Wright isn't good or the other way around... They said they were going to give him every chance to start in the National League. But I was watching a podcast with the beat guy from Seattle and apparently a couple of times on the ice during practice he threw tantrums [directed at] the American League coaches.
It worried [the podcaster]. At one point, Dan Bylsma gave instructions and he looked at him wanting to say: ''What is that!?'' It's a little disturbing... It's primadonna!
I am an open-minded person. Just because people like (Juraj) Slafkovsky doesn't mean Wright isn't good or the other way around... They said they were going to give him every chance to start in the National League. But I was watching a podcast with the beat guy from Seattle and apparently a couple of times on the ice during practice he threw tantrums [directed at] the American League coaches.
It worried [the podcaster]. At one point, Dan Bylsma gave instructions and he looked at him wanting to say: ''What is that!?'' It's a little disturbing... It's primadonna!
If Wright truly does believe that he deserved to be the first overall pick, having a chip on his shoulder is a given. However, behaving like a prima donna at training camp is not going to do anything to dissuade people from thinking that the Habs, Devils and Coyotes all made the right decision to pass on him.
That's obviously just one side to the story, but if true, it's not a great look for Wright. If he's actually giving the coaches a hard time in his first NHL training camp, perhaps the attitude issues were more than just a rumour.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
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