MONTREAL -- There's often been a consensus No. 1 pick heading into Day 1 of the NHL draft in recent years.
It was clear-cut that Owen Power would be the top guy last year. The 2020 draft lottery was appropriately called the Alexis Lafreniere Sweepstakes, a nod to another draft lottery involving another highly-touted prospect out of the Rimouski Oceanic 15 years prior. The year leading up to the 2019 draft had fans of bottom-feeder teams using the #LoseForHughes hashtag on Twitter all season, rejoicing in points lost in the standings as their draft lottery odds increased for the right to take Jack Hughes first overall.
Shane Wright has been regarded as the top prospect in this draft class for a couple of years now. In 2019-20 the Kingston Frontenacs center was just the sixth player in OHL history to be granted "exceptional player status," a designation that allows players to debut in the league a year early at age 15. He's a complete, highly-skilled player, and scored 32 goals and 62 assists in 63 games last season.
Wright is still the betting favorite for the No. 1 spot heading into draft night, but there are two other players very much in the mix to be selected first by the hometown Canadiens here in Montreal.
One of them is Slovakian left wing Juraj Slafkovsky -- A big, 6-foot-4, 218-pound left wing who played in the top Finnish league last season, scoring five goals and five assists in 31 games. He's a power-forward type with added skill.
The other is center/wing Logan Cooley, a West Mifflin native who will soon become the highest-drafted Pittsburgh native in NHL history. Cooley, 5-10 and 174-pounds, is regarded as having one of the best two-way games in the entire draft class. He scored 27 goals and 48 assists in 51 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program last season and will be attending the University of Minnesota next season.
The Canadiens, Devils and Coyotes are all sure to come away from this draft with a top prospect who will make an impact, no matter how the order ultimately shakes out.
WHO DO THE PENGUINS PICK?
The Penguins aren't active until later in the evening, at pick No. 21.
While someone like Wright or other top-5 picks might make the jump to the NHL right away, the players picked in this range are undoubtedly a few years away from seeing NHL time, or even playing professional hockey if they're coming from major junior or college.
Whoever the Penguins take with their first-round pick likely won't be wearing a Penguins jersey anytime soon.
I wrote this story a month ago looking at potential first-round picks for the Penguins, though this year feels tougher to predict than in previous years. One factor is that many of these prospects have had seasons impacted by COVID in recent years, and scouts haven't been able to see these players play in person as frequently as they usually do in those COVID-impacted seasons. Major tournaments that serve as opportunities for these players to improve their stock have been lost or postponed. There are also a number of prospects who have seen their stock fall over the past year due to health- or performance-related changes, and there are a number of prospects who have seen their stock dramatically rise after becoming late bloomers.
With the draft tonight, I want to narrow down my list of most intriguing potential picks to two players -- one who I included on that list from a month ago, and another who I initially left off that list because at the time it didn't seem like he'd still be on the board at No. 21.
If Russian forward Ivan Miroshnichenko is still available when the Penguins are on the clock, I think he'd be a great pick. Miroshnichenko was projected to be drafted No. 9 overall in Sportsnet's February rankings, well before the Penguins' selection. In March, Miroshnichenko was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same form of cancer that Mario Lemieux had and beat. Some projections had Miroshnichenko expected to drop to the second round after his diagnosis. NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said at last month's scouting combine that Miroshnichenko had completed his treatments and has been given the green light to resume training. He is expected to return to play next season. With Miroshnichenko having a clean bill of health, it now seems as if his draft stock might rise back up to the mid-to-late first round.
The 6-foot-1,185-pound left wing has an NHL-level shot, a strong two-way game, and was described by USHL coach Mike Hamilton as an "elite skater" who "hits like a truck." He just checks all the boxes.
An intriguing players who I didn't include on my earlier list is Finnish right wing Brad Lambert.
Lambert was projected to be a top prospect in this draft class at the start of the year, with projections often including Lambert in the top-five selections. He was coming off of a rookie season in the top Finnish league in which he produced seven goals and eight assists in 46 games with the club JYP, an impressive showing especially given that he started the year as a 16-year-old playing in a league against grown men. It's also worth noting that the Finnish Liiga is very much a defense-first league.
Lambert's production dipped this year, and his draft stock followed. He scored two goals and four assists in 24 games with JYP in the first half of the season, then two goals and two assists in 25 games with the Pelicans in the same league. He did say at last month's combine that he focused on becoming more responsible defensively this past season, and his goal of doing that was one of the big reasons why he opted to stay in Finland for the year rather than make the move to Canadian junior hockey.
One of Lambert's greatest assets is his exceptional speed and overall skating ability, which should be fun to watch when he does make the move to the North American pro game one day. Lambert currently isn't under contract with a Finnish team for next season and is considering a move to Canadian junior hockey, where the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds currently own his rights.
Lambert is a top-five talent who is now projected to fall to the mid- to late-first round, largely due to his inconsistent production last season. If he's still around at No. 21, he'd be worth the gamble.
HOW TO WATCH
The first round of the tonight will be broadcast on ESPN in the U.S. and Sportsnet, TVA Sports in Canada beginning at 7 p.m.
Rounds 2-7 on Friday will air on the NHL Network in the U.S. and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada starting at 11 a.m.
Both days will also be available to watch via stream in the U.S. on ESPN+.
DRAFT ORDER
Here's how the night will shake out, barring any more trades involving picks:
1. Montreal
2. New Jersey
3. Arizona
4. Seattle
5. Philadelphia
6. Columbus (from CHI)
7. Ottawa
8. Detroit
9. Buffalo
10. Anaheim
11. San Jose
12. Columbus
13. NY Islanders
14. Winnipeg
15. Vancouver
16. Buffalo (from VGK)
17. Nashville
18. Dallas
19. Los Angeles
20. Washington
21. Pittsburgh
22. Anaheim (from BOS)
23. St. Louis
24. Minnesota
25. Toronto
26. Montreal (from CGY)
27. Arizona (from CAR via MTL)
28. Buffalo (from FLA)
29. Edmonton
30. Winnipeg (from NYR)
31. Tampa Bay
32. Arizona (from COL)
