– Shane Wright –
Don Mills Flyers (GTHL) | Center | 2019 OHL Draft Eligible
Burlington, Ontario | January 5, 2004 | 6-foot, 168-pounds
Shane Wright is a dynamic center with game-breaking talent. He is an elite skater with high-end speed and a tremendous sense for the game. Despite his status as an early 2004-born prospect, Wright has been granted exceptional status by the Ontario Hockey Federation and will be eligible for the 2019 OHL Draft. Born just five days into 2004, Wright should have no issue transitioning to the OHL given his proven ability to consistently dominate the GTHL.
Related: 2019 OHL Draft Rankings
In fact, Wright has long proven himself to be a head above the 2003-born draft class, and began to do so at the Toronto Titans Early Bird Tournament. En route to leading Don Mills to the championship, Wright racked up eight goals and a tournament-leading 17 points in eight games. Then, mid-way through the campaign, Wright turned in a dominant effort at the Whitby International Silver Stick Tournament — notching seven goals and 12 points.
Strengths:
- Hockey Sense
- Skating
- Playmaking
Shane Wright immediately catches your eye with an incredible ability to read the game one step ahead of real-time, analyzing and reacting to take advantage of developing situations. He showcases excellent vision and creativity, sliding the puck through defenders legs or under their stick, as well as chipping the puck past his opponents and using his speed to retrieve it.
Wright is an agile skater who visibly uses his edges to keep defencemen on their toes. He has strong acceleration as well, needing just a couple of steps to break away from opponents. Further, Wright seems to always know where his teammates are positioned on the ice, dishing behind the back and cross-ice passes through traffic onto the tape. He also shows defensive responsibility by back-checking deep into his own zone in order to support his defenders’ play.
Area of Improvement:
- Shot Power
As an “exceptional” prospect, it’s not easy to pick out any distinct weaknesses in Wright’s game. There simply aren’t many. However, if one was to nitpick and draw out an area of improvement, it would likely be Wright’s wrist shot power. While his shot is by no means below-average, it lacks an electric release which can catch opposing goaltenders off guard.
Related: 2019 OHL Draft Profiles
With this being said, Wright has the ability to beat goalies clean with a pin-point snap shot. He likes to use a curl-and-drag release to create new shooting angles and has quickly become a remarkably consistent sniper. Moving on to the OHL level, Wright would benefit tremendously from adding some power behind his snap shot in order to make him a sniper as well as an elite playmaker.
Future Potential:
Shane Wright looks to be the next great superstar of the OHL. Granted exceptional status, Wright has become just the sixth player in CHL history to earn the honour, following John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, and Joe Veleno.
In attaining eligibility for the OHL Priority Selection, Wright will likely be made the first overall choice come April of 2019. Truthfully, Wright has no holes within his game and possesses dynamic offensive abilities. Ultimately, Wright has the necessary size and strength to survive an OHL season as a 15-year-old. In the long-run, Wright must be considered as a top prospect for the 2022 NHL Draft, with the potential to become a franchise centre at the NHL-level for one lucky franchise.
Prospect Pipeline 