Top prospects make their case to the Canadiens and other combine takeaways

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The contenders to go first overall aren't shy about campaigning. 

Shane Wright staked his claim during a recent interview on That's Hockey! 

"I deserve to be the first pick," the Kingston Frontenacs centre told host Gino Reda. "I deserve to have that honour. I believe that I am the best player in this draft and that I should be taken first overall."

Juraj Slafkovsky, who is the No. 1 ranked European skater on NHL Central Scouting's final list, shrugged off that comment. 

"That's what he thinks," the TPS winger said. "I think something else ... At the end of our careers, when they check who was the best from the 2022 draft, I want to be that guy."

Logan Cooley also didn't hesitate to weigh in. 

"My motor is always going," the U.S. National Development Team centre said. "When I'm playing my two-way game, I think I'm at the top of the class."

Cooley, who's heading to the University of Minnesota next season, came in No. 2 on the list of North American skaters, behind only Wright.  

"In our mid-season meetings there was a wider spread and then it got a lot tighter in the final meeting," revealed Dan Marr, who is the director of NHL Central Scouting. "Very fine line. For our group, there was just more of a completeness to Shane's overall game ... Cooley does have that NHL speed and quickness. Shane might have a slight edge at being able to have the quickness to read and react and respond to the play."

Slafkovsky, who played in Finland's Liiga, may be the prospect most prepared to make the jump to the NHL. 

"Slafkovsky is the most physically mature," Marr said of the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Slovak. "He played against older players. You could see at the Olympics and then at the World