Inside Scott Wheeler’s Bold 2022 NHL Draft Shake-Up: Which Stars Rise and Fall?

27. San Jose Sharks: C Matt Poitras

Actual draft pick: No. 54 (change: +27) to Boston
My final ranking: No. 64 (change: +37)

Poitras has always been a very smart player who has navigated the ice really intelligently and found ways to facilitate for his linemates and was decently competitive off-puck. The question at draft time was whether, as a 5-foot-11 center, he could score goals at the NHL level. That remains a bit of a question now, too. He was very good for Providence last year, playing to a point per game as one of the most productive players in his age cohort. But he also scored just one goal in 33 NHL games last season. He’s a heady player. He’s going to have to show he’s more than just a guy at the NHL level and carve out a niche beyond the subtle passing feel/vision. I think he, Ohgren and Geekie are all in a similar boat in terms of what they have to prove.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52