The next Patrice Bergeron with the Habs?
Prior to tonight's game, the Habs are currently ranked 29th in the National Hockey League with ten points in 17 games. They are ahead of the Seattle Kraken, the Ottawa Senators and the Arizona Coyotes. However, the Kraken and the Sens have two games in hand on the Tricolore with only one point behind. It's possible that the CH could end up 31st and second to last place in the overall standings.
The good news in all of this is that the Tricolore will have a good chance of being selected early in the next NHL draft. In fact, TSN analyst Craig Button took the opportunity to unveil his top-10 prospects for the upcoming amateur auction.
Not surprisingly, Kingston Frontenacs forward Shane Wright is at the top of the list. The Ontario Junior League center has 18 points in 14 games. Prior to the pandemic, Wright had 66 points in 58 OHL games when he was just 15 years old.
Button even made a bold comparison to Boston Bruins' Quebec center Patrice Bergeron. "Accuracy is the word that comes to mind when I watch Wright play," said Button, who serves as TSN's Director of Scouting. He has all the tools to be a Patrice Bergeron type at the next level."
As you can see, this is a draft that looks like it's going to be pretty stacked in terms of forwards with eight of the top 10 prospects playing wing or center. Is this a good thing for the Habs? Is there a greater need at forward or on the blue line?
One thing is for sure, if the Tricolore gets a very high pick, they have to draft the best player available at that position. The Kotkaniemi mistake cannot be repeated again!
