Mocking the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft

After a full year of scouting the 2022 NHL Draft, we can make some pretty reasonable calls on the class as a whole. It lacks the surefire superstar at the top-end of the draft that we've seen in the last seven or eight years and doesn't even have a clear-cut, locked-in first-overall pick.

That player was supposed to be Kingston Frontenacs centre Shane Wright, but a second-half push from Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovský may yet have usurped his position at the top.

There's no shortage of interesting players in this year's draft, though. You've got a pair of relatively high upside defenders, a high-octane winger or two, and a handful of highly talented centres all in the lottery slots, ripe for the taking. 

The uncertainty of some of the high-end, marquee talents makes the draft that much more in