The real reason for Shane Wright's non-selection by the CH is revealed and it's worse than we thought
The dust has settled after the relatively surprising selection of Juraj Slafkovsky over Shane Wright in the 2022 National Hockey League draft at the Bell Centre.
The incomprehension was palpable among some fans, but as the days go by, this selection becomes more and more logical.
According to revelations from Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman and Chris Peters, many scouts were not impressed with Wright's work ethic during the NHL's Combine.
They even go so far as to say he wouldn't be the most "passionate" about hockey and didn't do well in interviews, in preparation for the 2022 draft.
In particular, Wright was asked why he decided not to play in 2020-21 (the cancelled year in the OHL) and his answer was not the most convincing.
Many teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, would have liked to see Wright make more of an effort in 2020 to play hockey (going to Europe, for example, as many prospects have done and as many have strongly recommended to Wright)
Of course, this "gap year" was detrimental to his development and led directly to what happened at the Bell Centre.
The famous look towards the Canadiens table, following his non-selection by Montreal, and his comments of the last few days seem to confirm the fears that Kent Hughes and his team had.
In particular, Wright telling everyone that he was dreaming of being drafted by the Seattle Kraken and that he wanted to go fourth, when this is simply not true, if we believe what he said before the draft.
The point here is not to blame Wright, but to explain what led to the Montreal Canadiens' selection, after months (if not years) of talking about Shane Wright being the first overall home run in 2022.
It's big, they're really talking about "really bad interviews" for Wright and "terrible attitude".
Elliotte Friedman's information helps us understand this better, especially when you consider that, conversely, Juraj Slafkovsky has really been amazing in interviews.
For details:
| POLL | ||
Looking back, would you have liked the CH to select Shane Wright? | ||
| Yes | 144 | 19.1 % |
| No | 608 | 80.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
