NHL draft takeaways: Hughes puts his stamp on Canadiens

MONTREAL - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was booed relentlessly. Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis was cheered endlessly. Fans serenaded first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky with chants of "Ole! Ole! Ole!" as he walked through the Bell Centre en route to a broadcast set.

We knew the city of Montreal had been waiting on bated breath for the 2022 NHL Draft, but Thursday night was something else. It was like attending a professional wrestling event, except the entertainment was a bunch of middle-aged men saying the names of teenagers into a microphone on a giant stage.

The Canadiens' activity on the draft floor is what took the event to the next level; they didn't just show up, make the safe pick at first overall, chose again at No. 26, and call it a day. No, they made hosting the draft count, seizing an opportunity with the Slafkovsky pick and making two trades, the second of which included the acquisition of Chicago Blackhawks center Kirby Dach.

"We were looking to improve, get a little bigger, faster in the middle of the ice," general manager Kent Hughes said of the trade for 21-year-old Dach. "There's also, in a perfect world, an age component to it so he can grow with our young core. He fit that description for us."

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Based on custom T-shirts and vanity signs littered inside the arena, the fanbase wanted the Habs to select Shane Wright. He was the consensus top player in the draft class for most of the 2021-22 season and, generally speaking, a safer bet. He was sitting right there, and Hughes said no thanks.

Wright may develop into a first-line center, though most talent evaluators believe he'll top out as a strong second-line pivot. In other words, kind of an unsexy pick. The 6-foot-4 Slafkovsky - with his soft hands, nose for the net, and already impressive international resume for Slovakia - has higher bust potential. Yet the best-case scenario is a franchise-changing player.

"We were leaning towards Slafkovsky I'd say at some point Wednesday morning," Hughes said, before adding: "His desire to be a difference maker. You see it. You see it in the way he plays. You see it when you speak to him."

The type of conviction Hughes showed Thursday is what ownership hoped it was getting when it hired the longtime player agent with no previous hockey operations experience back in January. Like the Slafkovsky pick, the hire came with some risk. While he has plenty left to do this offseason, Hughes looks well-equipped for the gig. With 10 more picks on Day 2, Habs fans were able to rest easy knowing their GM seems like a guy with a plan.

Patrick Kane's future uncertain

Oh, to be in Patrick Kane's head Thursday.

Seriously, what was going through the Blackhawks superstar's mind when GM Kyle Davidson pulled the trigger on trades that swapped two-time 40-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat, who's just 24, and 2019 third overall pick Dach for a combined five draft picks?

Kane is well aware Chicago is retooling, resetting, rebuilding - whatever you want to call it. But did he know Davidson would be cutting this deep? If he did, he can't be pleased with the absence of prospects and NHLers in the return packages.

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Seventh overall pick Kevin Korchinski (DeBrincat trade), No. 13 pick Frank Nazar (Dach trade), and 25th overall selection Sam Rinzel (a third Chicago trade involving the acquisition of overpaid goalie Petr Mrazek) could blossom into impact players at some point. Sure. But that point isn't anytime soon.

There was already speculation Kane could be on the move before his contract expires next summer. One would think his appetite to be a good soldier is nonexistent now. (Captain Jonathan Toews, who's openly wondered what it'd be like to change teams, is probably as good as gone if there's a taker.)

Kane's agent told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun midway through the first round that neither Kane nor his camp will "make any decisions or comments" right now.

Faller Wright fueled up

The disappointment of not being drafted first overall can impact Wright in two different ways. It can motivate him, or it can break his confidence.

Given what we know about his maturity and competitive fire (and what he said in his media availability Thursday), the slight will surely be nothing more than a bump in the road for the new face of the Seattle Kraken franchise.

Draft slot aside, Wright landed in a tremendous spot. Seattle is an excellent hockey market. The organization is - by all accounts - top-notch, and he and 2021 first-rounder Matty Beniers have the potential to do some serious damage as a one-two punch down the middle over the next decade.

Let's just say it's a better landing spot than the Arizona Coyotes, who passed on Wright with the No. 3 pick.

Picks from everywhere

Thursday night was truly a testament to hockey's reach across the world.

Kids from Slovakia went off the board first and second. Then, two Americans (one from Pennsylvania, the other from Arizona) sandwiched a Canadian to round out the top five. From there, a Czech, a second Canadian, an Austrian, a third Canadian, and a Russian completed the top 10.

At the end of the first round, the tally stands at nine Canadians, seven Americans, four Swedes, three Russians, three Slovaks, two Czechs, two Finns, one Austrian, and one Swiss.

Player to watch: Jagger Firkus Joe Hrycych / Getty Images

First of all, elite name. Secondly, fantastic mustache. More importantly, however, Firkus is arguably the draft class' most creative player on the ice.

What's not to like?

Firkus, who many analysts projected would go off the board in the first round, was probably passed over due to his paper-thin 5-foot-10, 151-pound frame. It doesn't help that scouts are concerned about his skating.

The Moose Jaw Warriors winger does own a bullet of a shot, and he used his aforementioned artistic flair to score a lacrosse-style goal in the WHL playoffs. Firkus finished with 42 total snipes in 76 regular-season and postseason games in 2021-22. And he's no slouch on the playmaking front.

"His hockey sense is great," teammate Denton Mateychuk said. "He can come into the zone, and he'll make it look like he's going to shoot, and then he'll slide a pass across everybody. He picks his spots really well with his shot, too."

Bonus: The Irma, Alberta, native has a tremendous nickname - the Firkus Circus.

Player to watch: Tristan Luneau Chris Tanouye / Getty Images

The consensus among scouts is that Luneau's pro ceiling isn't particularly high, which is likely why he didn't hear his name called on opening night.

That's not to say the two-way, no-frills defenseman can't make a GM look smart a few years down the road. Luneau moves the puck well and doesn't make a ton of mistakes. The knock is that he doesn't boast one elite skill.

There's a solid chance Luneau enjoys a long career as a bottom-pair NHL blue-liner, and truthfully, that'd be decent value for a second-rounder.

Luneau comes from an athletic family. His mom was a competitive figure skater, his dad played high-level hockey and football, and his siblings excelled at various sports - from hockey to gymnastics - while growing up in Quebec. In his spare time, Luneau studies world-class athletes through biographical books on the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Sidney Crosby, Rafael Nadal, and Kobe Bryant.

"Every single action he was doing was to get better at basketball," Luneau said of Bryant during a recent interview. "That's incredible to me."

This burning desire to learn and turn written lessons into action will serve Luneau well as he transitions from prospect to project for an NHL club.

Player to watch: Ty Nelson Chase Agnello-Dean / Getty Images

If you're looking for one guy to root for on Day 2, look no further than Nelson.

While hockey is in many ways a rich person's sport, Nelson has blue-collar roots and the work ethic to go along with it. His dad a factory worker, Nelson couldn't afford sessions with personal skills coaches at an early age like many of his peers. Instead, he cherished every minute in practice to supplement his development.

"That's what separates me from some other kids," Nelson said. "I've had to work for everything in my life, and that's my mentality."

Also of note, Nelson is a stocky 5-foot-10, 199-pounder. The mohawk-wearing North Bay Battalion defenseman can fire it. He literally split a puck in half by ringing it off the crossbar during an OHL game this past season.

A tenacious player with wheels, Nelson models his game after Cale Makar (offensive ability), Morgan Rielly (first pass), and Ryan Ellis (defensive skills).

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

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