The 2022 NHL Draft year has been an interesting season. My attention to the Draft began when Shane Wright was dominating the GTHL with the Don Mills Flyers and earning the OHL exceptional status distinction. With my hometown team, the Kingston Frontenacs owning the first overall selection in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection I was keen to watch the 2022 NHL Draft Class. With names like Shane Wright, Brad Lambert, and Matthew Savoie all headlining favorites for the top-ranked player in what was shaping up to be a strong draft class. As the season played out and I started to take a deeper look at this year’s class, I realized the depth is not as strong as I had hoped. While there are some intriguing players that will be available in the mid-later rounds, the overall quality is less than in recent years. The pandemic all but eliminated an entire season of development for the 2021 Draft Class, and there is still some fallout from that impact. As several players that had little to no views from scouts fell to the wayside. With hockey back, those players are getting another look and could be on scouts radar this year in their second year of eligibility.
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Leafs Nation
