Shane Wright was devastated on draft night, but a call from a hockey icon helped calm him down before he was selected 4th
The NHL draft hit us with some big surprises, starting with Montreal drafting Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky with their first overall pick ahead of long-time consensus #1 Shane Wright. But there was something more significant than that. In fact, Wright was selected fourth overall by the Seattle Kraken after being passed on 2 more times. This came as a shock for everyone as they were surprised he dropped.
When the Habs announced the pick, you could see the look on Wright's face being upset and disappointed that he was not picked first overall; he didn't exactly try to hide it either. Matters got worse for Wright when the New Jersey Devils (who reportedly had Slafkovsky earmarked as the #2 overall pick and panicked when he went at #1) selected defenseman Simon Nemec at #2, admitting afterward that the did not have enough time to trade down and did not need another center.
The third team who passed on Wright, the Arizona Coyotes, were apparently already in love with Logan Cooley, another C prospect, and so they stuck to their guns, allowing Wright to fall into the laps of the Seattle Kraken. In my opinion, all 3 teams who allowed this to happen are going to regret it and the Kraken are going to reap the benefits.
After Seattle announced they'd drafted Wright, when he was on the stage, we saw him glare at the Canadiens draft table as he approached Commissioner Gary Bettman. The move drew a lot of media attention. Wright made the following comments after the draft.
On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman reported that The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, called Wright after he had been passed over to offer some advice and to help calm him.
-Friedman on Gretzky's call to Wright
Rumour also has it that another individual put in a call to Wright after he was drafted to help put him at ease and to connect with him - new teammate and 2021 2nd overall pick Matty Beniers. Apparently, Beniers got Wright's number from Director of Player Development for the Kraken, Troy Bodie, and wanted to be the first member of the team to form a bond with the 2022 4th overall pick. Beniers, a guy who was also thought to have been a potential candidate to go 1st overall knows what it feels like to be passed on.
With training camp two months away, Wright wants to show teams that passed on him what they are missing. If Wright does crack the Kraken lineup this season, he will get his first shot at the Montreal Canadiens on December 6th. I'll bet dollars to donuts that that date is already circled on his calendar.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 9 | 758 ANSWERS Shane Wright was devastated on draft night, but a call from a hockey icon helped calm him down before he was selected 4th Who made the biggest mistake by passing on Shane Wright? | ||
| Montreal | 266 | 35.1 % |
| New Jersey | 102 | 13.5 % |
| Arizona | 141 | 18.6 % |
| All 3 of them are equally stupid | 249 | 32.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
