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2022 Season (what little left there is)

WizardHawk

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Matty Beniers with his first game at home scores the go ahead goal and his first in the NHL!!!!
 

WizardHawk

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Heck of an entrance into the NHL. A week ago he was in college.
 

Kernz

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It's about time, having a Kraken thread, finally.
 

WizardHawk

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Matty has played in 4 NHL games and has points in all 4.
Franchises first 3 game winning streak as well.

Sure, the season is long since lost, but good to see the team finding some things to build toward next year.
 

WizardHawk

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It's about time, having a Kraken thread, finally.
I asked the admins several times for a board and for the icon. At least we finally have the board. Not holding breath we get the team icon option soon. /shrug
 

Judge Fudge

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Wright is an unusual type of top prospect. Typically, these players are dominant on an individual level at lower levels of hockey and need to adjust to the unforgiving structural play of five-on-five at the NHL level. It took recent former first overall picks Jack Hughes and Rasmus Dahlin a few years to catch their bearings, while Alexis Lafreniere is in that process.

Wright is in a different category. The center could have stepped into an NHL playoff game and not miss a beat. His hockey IQ is through the roof, and it shows at even strength. His decision-making with the puck is beyond his 18 years. He anticipates the flow of play off the puck, keeping his feet moving and always reading the ice to find where he needs to be either to support the puck in the offensive zone or cut off lanes defensively. He has a gravity to him, bringing defenders into his orbit and making space for his teammates, whom he often is able to find even under pressure. He's a strong forechecker not by blasting players through the glass, but instead by getting up the ice and constricting spaces quickly. Similarly, he's a major asset as a neutral-zone forechecker, cutting off rush attempts.

Where the 6'0", 199-pound Wright falls short compared to most first overall picks in recent memory is a lack of any signature physical tools. When it comes to skating, physical play, passing finesse, stickhandling, and shooting, he rates as a 7 or 8 out of 10 across the board. His shot is the closest thing to a standout skill. The right-hander gets off quick releases even from awkward weight transfers and beats goaltenders from the top of the circle. But on the power play, he's more of a dual threat who gets lots of touches and dictates play rather than a team's primary shooting threat.

A lot of scouts want to see Wright complement that superb group play with more of a willingness to take on defenders and beat them with more individual efforts. Even if none of his tools are elite, he still has the skating, stickhandling and vision to put defenders on their heels and beat them in isolation.

After entering the season as the runaway favorite to go first overall, Wright struggled during the first half of the OHL season, registering "only" 1.36 points per game prior to the 2022 World Junior Championship for Canada. Some scouts began to question whether first overall was inevitable. He somewhat rebounded afterward, improving to a 1.56 point-per-game pace the rest of the season, playoffs included.

There is still some talk that the Montreal Canadiens could take a different player first overall, but that would be a major miscalculation. The Ontario native may lack the "wow" factor of some other prospects, but in a cost-benefit analysis, nobody comes close to matching him. A "200-foot center" with leadership qualities is incredibly hard to come by, and what Wright may lack in upside, he makes up for in maturity and security. In some ways, his game will translate better in the NHL than it does in juniors. His game relies on collaboration from his teammates, and NHL players will be able to read and react to his movements and decision-making far better.

It's hard to imagine him as any worse than a first-line center and team leader in the mold of a Jonathan Toews. Wright will not routinely challenge for individual awards, but he's the type of organizational linchpin a head coach dreams of and who could anchor his team to a Stanley Cup
 

Judge Fudge

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The only reason he fell is a crock of shit

He had 32 goals and 62 assists last season for Kingston. They is "lower than the pace for an Exceptional talent" that right was.


Let's also consider that he played in at least 2 international tournaments, world juniors and world championships.

I can understand Montreal not taking him. They want 1b but I hate it

New Jeresy... ahh yeah I can see that. They have Hughes and Hiescher

Arizona did Arizona things....

So lucky bastards
 
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