Only two 2022 NHL Draft prospects started the season on their respective club’s opening night rosters: Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky and Seattle’s Shane Wright.

But both have struggled out of the gate: Slafkovsky has just one goal through five points and had a rather disappointing pre-season, too. He’s been out for a few games, but the Canadiens will still need to act soon as to what his future will be. And, as a European prospect, they have a few more options, including AHL Laval.

In Wright’s case, it isn’t that simple.

Wright has one assist, averaging just 6:51 of ice time a night, and centering the team’s fourth line. Seattle isn’t giving Wright a chance to succeed, and the whole situation wastes everyone’s time.

Either play him or send him down. The Kraken aren’t going to be a playoff team. You can afford to be patient with a top prospect.

The issue with players coming out of the CHL is that they have to return to their junior team if they don’t stick with the big club due to transfer agreements. He can’t get sent down to the AHL like European draft prospects. It’s big leagues or bust.

The NHL-CHL transfer agreement – which you can read about here – hurts high-end prospects who have nothing to gain in junior, but can’t get a quality spot with their NHL roster. Cases like Wright’s are a case for changing that agreement, but that’s a topic for another day.

Last season with Kingston, Wright scored 32 goals and 94 points, with another 14 points in 11 playoff games. Had he not missed time due to the World Junior Championship that was ultimately cancelled, he’d be closer to 100, and that’s considering a big part of his development last year was advancing his two-way game.