Nhl 22 cover leak1/1/2024 Health aside, Miroshnichenko is a first-round talent, no doubt. His shot is at an elite level and for player that is only six-foot-one, he plays a physical game that is comparable to guys that come in at six-foot-four and 200 pounds. The likelihood that he plays again is good and his skill is undebatable. Having watched what he did for Slovakia, using his size and power along the boards, the potential this kid has to unlock is so high that he forced my hand in moving him up my rankings.ĭon’t forget, he still has the opportunity to play at the rescheduled World Juniors as well and while his place in my rankings might be debated, his chance in the summer could secure him a top-three pick in the draft.Īs for Ivan Miroshnichenko, his recent diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma could be a small deterrent for some teams, but it shouldn’t be. The fact that Slafkovsky is still mid-development should be a bonus for any team that takes him. He led the tournament in goals and his strength on the puck was one of the main reasons for it. This kid can play and his ceiling is not even close to others within this draft.īut my focus, as of late, has been on 2022 Olympic standout Juraj Slafkovsky who helped the Slovaks win their first medal in men’s hockey with a bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. But with his up and down play this season, some have questioned his place atop this list. It’s been Shane Wright and it will be Shane Wright. While many have jumped on the train saying that the top pick could be up for grabs, the simple answer is that it isn’t. Early Takes: Slafkovsky Rises While Others Fall As always, these rankings are open for debate, discussion and questions as we narrow down the best of the 2022 NHL Draft class. Shane Wright, Brad Lambert, Ivan Miroshnichenko (graphic by Vince Richard / The Hockey Writers)īecause there has been more opportunity this season, my rankings will be increasing from my top-64 in January to the top 96 players as I see it. With that, players have been watched closely as teams are looking to, once again, pounce on early-round opportunities and later-round gems as they fill their pipelines with NHL hopefuls from around the globe. That, however, has now been rescheduled for the summer and while players have made names for themselves in their respective leagues, others had the opportunity to join their country’s Olympic squad and star on international stage – an opportunity that is quite rare for these young players.Įven with the World Junior tournament scratched from the books and the Olympics being the main focus for international play, the scouting hasn’t stopped as this is the closest to a regular year of hockey that we’ve had in almost two seasons. While my colleagues, Peter Baracchini and Matthew Zator have released their respective rankings and broken them down on the Prospects Corner, I haven’t shifted names on my draft board since January, when I released my first set of rankings for this year’s draft class.Īt the time, we had just received news that the IIHF had stopped the World Junior tournament and it seemed as though, yet again, we were going to miss out on some top-tier hockey from some of the best young players in the game. The Hockey Writers is rolling out with some top-notch NHL Draft content and with that comes 2022 Draft Rankings.
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