What type of player is Shane Wright supposed to be? Playmaker? Goal scorer?
Only caught parts of the first two games, but I wasn't overly impressed with him. He didn't look *bad* or anything, but I didn't see any shifts where he displayed any sort of elite ability.
Is he supposed to be dynamic? Or more of a solid two-way contributor?
Wright’s upside is as a thoroughly dominant 2-way player.
But as is often the case, highly touted players who enter the CHL from thoroughly dominant minor midget teams often have difficulty adjusting to playing without the puck at the major junior level.
Wright’s minor midget AAA club lost once in 84 games. The club’s average per-game goal differential was an astonishing 4.17 — the next best team was 2.29. The club played some games where they did not surrender ANY shots on goal.
This wasn’t an aberration. The team performed at a similar level of nearly farcical dominance for years, finishing as the #1 ranked 03 AAA team since at least major peewee, which is as far back as the ranking websites go.
Back in the Spring, just prior to the priority selection draft, someone I respect asked me to evaluate Shane Wright’s defensive game. My answer was simple and honest: I have no idea, and anyone who claims to know the answer is giving you a personal projection instead of an evidence-based evaluation. More often than not, the Zamboni only needed to resurface half of the ice sheet. God help the scout trying to get a read on the team’s goaltenders. Watch the warmup, would have been my advice.
So be patient, Frontenacs fans. You have a player who will not be 16 for another 3 months and for the first time in his hockey-playing life is getting acquainted with the south end of the rink and playing huge stretches where the opponent has control of the puck. Most observers believe that Wright has the tools and the mind needed to fairly quickly figure out how defence drives offence at the CHL and higher levels, but experience will be his best teacher and it won’t always be pretty to watch.
But then again, the process of making sausages isn’t pretty to watch, but most people like the end result.