NHL Draft unpredictability highlighted on 'NHL Draft Class' podcast

The 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held July 7-8 at Bell Centre in Montreal. The first round will be July 7 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 are July 8 (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. NHL.com's full draft coverage can be found here.

Sam Cosentino has served as the lead draft analyst for Sportsnet the past eight years and never before has he seen as much volatility at the top of the NHL Draft than this year.
"I've been following draft for a long time," Cosentino said on the latest edition of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "When you talk to NHL scouts, and they tend to have that type-A personality and don't tend to stray too far from what's in front of them, but to a man the volatility is there and it's right there from the No. 1 pick."
The Montreal Canadiens have the No. 1 pick, the New Jersey Devils own the No. 2 selection and the Arizona Coyotes have the No. 3 choice.
"Is it
Shane Wright
going No. 1]? Is it
[Juraj Slafkovsky
? Is it going to be
Logan Cooley
or will
Simon Nemec
sneak in?" Cosentino said. "All of these conversation points speak to the volatility at the top end of the draft and typically we don't see that. Part of that is the fact this draft class doesn't have an Auston Matthews, a Connor McDavid or a Nathan MacKinnon available. So players are a lot more bunched up."
Wright, a right-shot center with Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League, is No. 1 in
NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters
. Slafkovsky, a left wing with TPS in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, is No. 1 in Central Scouting's
final ranking of International skaters
.
Cooley, a center with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team, is No. 2 in Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. Nemec, a right-shot defenseman with Nitra in Slovakia, is No. 3 in Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters.
Cosentino even discussed with "NHL Draft Class" co-hosts Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale the possibility of Nemec being selected as high as No. 2 by the Devils.
"There is no question that Nemec] will come into play as early as that second overall pick," Cosentino said. "I don't think he gets past the Seattle Kraken at No. 4. You see him as that guy who moves pucks extremely well, has that offensive side, yet uses those same assets to be able to defend. I love the fact Nemec has entered that conversation. He's going to be a fun guy to watch."
The podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. It also is available on
[NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts
and the NHL app.
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Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class