Each year, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler kills time in the off-season by writing a re-draft of the previous NHL draft. This year, he takes on the 2022 class, which was, incidentally, the last time the draft was held in Montreal. That year, talking heads and pundits alike agreed that there were no generational talents available. However, it was still the year the Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] won the lottery and secured the first-overall pick. It was the first time since 1980 that they got the first pick. Back then, they had grabbed Doug Wickenheiser, who played only 556 games in his NHL career, spending four seasons with the Canadiens. As you know, they selected Juraj Slafkovsky with that pick as plenty of fans attended the draft wearing pre-made Shane Wright jerseys. Let’s see if Wheeler agrees with their pick. Big Contingent Of Canadiens Players In Town For Suzuki’s Wedding? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/big-contingent-of-canadiens-players-in-town-for-suzuki-s-wedding] Canadiens: Big Weekend For Demidov And Newhook [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-big-weekend-for-demidov-and-newhook] Canadiens: Trouble for Struble? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-trouble-for-struble] Unsurprisingly, in hindsight, The Athletic’s journalist believes Logan Cooley should have been the first overall pick. He uses mainly his offensive stats to back his decision, mentioning that the Utah Mammoth [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/utah] pivot is the only one from that draft to be his team’s first-line center and leads his draft class in goals (45), goals-per-game (0.29), assists per game (0.41), and points per game (0.69). You can’t argue with numbers. Cooley is more productive than Slafkovsky, who currently has 111 points in 200 games for a 0.56 point-per-game average. However, the Canadiens’ power forward sample size is bigger since Cooley has featured in only 157 games. Furthermore, according to last season’s numbers, Cooley tends to score in bunches. He has had four three-point games this past season, compared to two for Slafkovsky. Cooley has the most extended dry spell with a six-game pointless streak compared to the Habs’ player, five. Cooley has got a 30-second edge in average time-on-ice, which goes to show just how important he is for his team, to his credit. Most of Wheeler’s argument is based on statistics, though; there’s more to the game than points. As Kent Hughes said not so long ago, Slafkovsky wasn’t drafted to score in bunches; he was drafted to do more than that. Still, if you think about it, had the Canadiens picked Cooley, they may not be trying to acquire a second top-six center this offseason; they would have Nick Suzuki and Cooley. With Ivan Demidov’s arrival, he would slot in on the first line alongside Suzuki and Cole Caufield. There would still be a hole on the wing, but one could argue that wingers are easier to find than centers. Cooley’s selection would undoubtedly have been a good one, but Slafkovsky’s wasn’t a bad one, and we’ve yet to see the big Slovak’s ceiling. When he comes to camp this season, it will be interesting to see if he’ll be able to get things going right away, instead of being on the slow burn for the start of the season. In the second place of the draft, Wheeler doesn’t have blueliner Simon Nemec, whom the New Jersey Devils [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils]originally picked (he had him going seventh to the Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks]) in that spot. Still, he does have another defender, Lane Hutson. The Calder Trophy winner makes the most significant jump of the exercise, going from pick 62 to pick number two. Wheeler not only calls Hutson an elite defenseman but also confesses to having debated putting him number one overall ahead of Logan Cooley, weighing the value of a good but not superstar first-line center versus an all-star blueliner. He ultimately adds that he could change his mind if he were to redo the exercise at the decade mark. It’s also worth noting that in his pre-draft rankings, the writer had him going 17th overall, way higher than he was picked, and he feels vindicated in that sense. All teams passed on him and even Montreal did, picking Owen Beck and Filip Mesar ahead of him. He then goes on to mention excerpts of the aforementioned pre-draft ranking. Further showing how write he was… It’s impossible to blame him there, given how tremendously well Hutson’s first season with the Canadiens went. No other Canadiens make the first round, with Filip Mesar falling completely off the board. It’s impossible to argue that, since he has yet to make any significant impact so far. He couldn’t dominate in junior hockey, scoring 51 and 52 points in his two seasons with the Kitchener Rangers before being brought up to the AHL last season, where he put up 18 points in 42 games. During the Laval Rocket’s playoff run, he only got to suit up in one of the 13 games. However, Owen Beck gets an honourable mention, meaning that he very nearly snuck in the first round. As you’ll recall, he was selected 33rd overall by the Canadiens, the first pick of the second round. Photo credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwo-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen], never to miss a story. 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