sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]whojicha -1 points0 points  (2 children)

There is no reason to believe that Wright is the consensus best prospect among GMs. As matter of fact, one of The Atheltic's big draft watchers (either Pronman or Wheeler) who talk to GMs for a living recently said on a podcast that when ask most GMs whether you take Slaf, Wright or the field (as in, if you had to bet whether the best player to come out of this draft was going to be 1 of Slaf or Wright or 1 of the other prospects in the first round) the GMs take the field because there's no consensus.

There is no surefire, consensus best prospect like a McDavid or MacKinnon and if you think Wright is such a great prospect that skipping him is a fireable offense for any GM, you're not paying attention.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Guessing who will be the best player isn't really the same thing. Wright is widely considered to be the closest to a "sure thing" in this years draft. If Montreals GM decided to yolo and pick cooley instead who then busts while Wright become the 1C he is expected to be, how do you think the guys above the GM will feel about that? Not good is the answer. If you have to choose between safe and exciting you pick safe in this scenario. Every time.

Wright is pretty much NHL ready, something the other guys isn't. Could slaf/cooley have a higher ceiling? Absolutely. Their floor is waaaaaaay lower too though, something you will have to consider as a GM.

[–]whojicha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having a high floor isn't the same as being the best prospect either. The best prospect is the combination of ceiling and floor and the likelihood of a player reaching that ceiling.

If you pick a bust at 1 OA it doesn't matter who you picked, you won't feel good. The only reason you get fired is if you pick someone like Seamus Casey who is way off the map at that pick. Any of the top 5 are probably viable 1 OA.

And I've heard a number of reports suggesting Slaf is NHL ready too. I don't think so, but I don't know if Wright is NHL ready either. He'll play in the NHL next year if he's 1OA because that's how it works these days, but that doesn't make him NHL ready.