Shane Wright of Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League and Logan Cooley of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 Team headline a class at center that could feature as many as eight players at the position selected in the top 25 of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
Wright (6-foot, 199 pounds), a right-hand shot, is No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters for the 2022 draft. Cooley (5-10, 180), a left-handed shot, is No. 2.
The Montreal Canadiens have the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, the New Jersey Devils have the No. 2 selection and the Arizona Coyotes have the No. 3 pick.
“The margin between the top two prospects got narrower as the season progressed, but much the same as it has been all season long, the edge goes to Shane Wright for our final ranking,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. “[Wright and Cooley] possess NHL qualities, and both utilize their skills and assets within their own style of play. I’d best sum up by acknowledging the one constant factor in his favor is that whenever Shane Wright has the puck on his stick, something good will happen.”
There were seven centers selected in the top 20 of the 2021 NHL Draft: Matty Beniers (No. 2, Seattle Kraken), Mason McTavish (No. 3, Anaheim Ducks), Kent Johnson (No. 5, Columbus Blue Jackets), Cole Sillinger (No. 12, Blue Jackets), Zachary Bolduc (No. 17, St. Louis Blues), Chaz Lucius (No. 18, Winnipeg Jets) and Fedor Svechkov (No. 19, Nashville Predators).
Here are NHL.com’s top 10 centers available for the 2022 draft:
1. Shane Wright, Kingston (OHL)
NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 1 (North American skaters)
Wright was eighth in the Ontario Hockey League with 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists),…
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