Wright, NHL Draft prospects excited to see MacKinnon, Game 2 of Cup Final

DENVER --
Conor Geekie
couldn't take his eyes off Nathan MacKinnon. And with good reason.

The 18-year-old was part of a group of four top prospects for the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Montreal next month who were at Ball Arena on Saturday to watch the Colorado Avalanche's 7-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Part of their itinerary was to watch the Avalanche morning skate, when MacKinnon, a forward, quickly grabbed Geekie's attention. For the No. 5 player in
NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters
, having the chance to see MacKinnon in game action is going to be special.
"I saw him in practice and I was already in awe. And he's probably going three-quarters, maybe half speed," Geekie said with a chuckle of admiration. "So to see him go full speed, if everything pans out, it would be really fun."

Geekie, a forward whose brother, forward Morgan Geekie, had 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 73 games with the Seattle Kraken this season, isn't the only one who said MacKinnon was the player he was most eager to see in Game 2.
Shane Wright
, No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, also said he was pumped to watch MacKinnon. Many prognosticators have the center projected to be selected No. 1 by the Montreal Canadiens at the draft July 7-8, nine years after MacKinnon was picked first by the Avalanche.
"Probably an easy answer, but MacKinnon for sure," said Wright, who had 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists) in 63 games with Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League this season. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory with the way he plays and how fast and dynamic he is and how explosive he is."

The 18-year-old said he also wanted to see Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
"He's another guy I love watching," Wright said. "Just how creative, how elusive he is with the puck. He's just a really fun guy to watch.
"So just a couple guys I'm going to be focusing on tonight, for sure."

Matthew Savoie
(5-foot-9, 170 pounds), Geekie's linemate with Winnipeg of the Western Hockey League, is just ahead of him at No. 4 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. His pick was Lightning forward Brayden Point (5-10, 183), who's dad, Grant, knows Matthew's dad, Scott.
"Really excited to watch the game tonight," Savoie said. "I think we both play a fast game, we're smaller guys who like to possess the puck.
"I think those are our biggest comparables and similarities, but I'm just really excited to get a chance to watch him."

Savoie said he's skated a couple of times with Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and Lightning forward Brandon Hagel at different points in past years.
"Just really excited to see pretty much everyone," he said. "I haven't seen MacKinnon in quite some time, haven't seen Kucherov play live ever. So really talented, highly skilled players that I'm looking forward to watching."
Cutter Gauthier
, No. 3 in Central Scouting's rankings, was the fourth member of the prospect group at the morning skate. The forward, who played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team, said he's excited as much to see the crowd's energy inside Ball Arena as he is to watch the players on the ice.

"I've never been to a Stanley Cup Final before, so just the atmosphere," he said before the game. "I've heard it's been crazy out here in Colorado. Just to see how the fans are and experience that.
"We've got some pretty good seats so we'll be right in the mix of everything. It'll be exciting to see."
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