When the Montreal Canadiens won the 2022 NHL Lottery Draft, all the talk was about who they would select: Juraj Slafkovsky or Shane Wright. It is rare to enter draft day with analysts still speculating on who the first overall pick will be. Ultimately, the Canadiens chose Slafkovsky, a raw prospect with higher upside.
Three years later, the Canadiens look to have made the right call between the two players projected to go first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Slafkovsky has not been a generational first overall pick, but he was not viewed as one at the time of the draft.