How The Hell Did That Happen? Revisiting the 2021 NHL Draft featuring Wyatt Johnston
Where does Wyatt Johnston go in a 2021 Re-Draft, and how did we get here in the first place?
Here are just a few names picked above Wyatt Johnston in the 2021 Draft.
Tyler Boucher (OTT)
Cole Sillinger (CBJ)
Matthew Coronato (CGY)
Zachery Bolduc (STL)
Isak Rosen (BUF)
Fedor Svechkov (NSH)
Xavier Bourgault (EDM)
Some of these players are quite good. In fact, except for Tyler Boucher (my god Ottawa, what the hell were you thinking besides potentially listening to Pierre McGuire mindlessly drone on and on about size?), they’re bound to be everyday NHLers, with some of them already getting in their reps. I mention them because they were all names that were in a tier Johnston didn’t quite belong in.
Here are the names that Johnston would not have belonged in, on anyone’s list:
Owen Power (BUF)
Matty Beniers (SEA)
Mason McTavish (ANA)
Luke Hughes (NJ)
Kent Johnson (CBJ)
Simon Edvinsson (DET)
William Eklund (SJS)
Brandt Clarke (L.A.)
Dylan Guenther (ARI)
Unlike everyone on this list — or the previous one — the only player making a difference in meaningful games is Johnston. Comparing Johnston to the rest might be a little unfair, but I don’t think it’s unfair to ask: how many of them would you say are better than Johnston, right now?
I’m not gonna go through them one by one. Players like Kent Johnson are in impossible situations thanks to the clownshow organization he belongs to. But it’s hard for me to look at that list and think he’s not competing for the top spot. Obviously this depends on your mileage on defensemen. Power, Hughes, Edvinsson, and Clarke all look like impact players, and already are in some cases. But if — all things being equal — I had to choose between a true, number one center versus a true, number one defender, I always go with the center.
Of course, players fall all the time. Mat Barzal, Kyle Connor, Alex DeBrincat, Cole Caufield, Logan Stankoven, Valeri Nichushkin, etc. Don’t ever let anyone gaslight you into saying “oh but hindsight, the draft is a crapshoot—” No. These players should have gone higher, they didn’t, and that egg on team’s faces in retrospect is verifiable.
Johnston, however, is not that. Just to be clear, this is not a ‘nanny nanny boo boo’ post. After all, 2021 was the COVID draft. But even if this were any other draft, Johnston still would have been a curious case. Are there lessons to be learned beyond the fact that Johnston is awesome, and Jim Nill and his scouts did an absurd job on picking him?
Maybe. Below we’ll look at quotes from the scouts at the biggest outlets, some of the data available, my own thoughts at the time, and parse what we can about the wisdom of retrospect, and perhaps even answer the question about whether anyone could or should have seen this coming. Johnston is in the middle of a battle between two Cup-worthy teams, and sometimes he looks like he’s the best player on the ice. How the hell did that happen?
“A paywall? Boooo!” I know, I know. Listen. If I ever feel like I’m writing crap you can find anywhere else, I promise not to charge you. If it’s a piece I spent weeks or months on, as I did with my film room analysis of on Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley, then yea, it’s getting the Only Fans tax. Here’s a handy list of my paid work so you can decide for yourself. For the new subscribers (thank you!), during the season you can expect two free pieces and one paid piece a week. The postseason will be a little more erratic on the paid front, but outside of the postseason, expect the same schedule, even during the offseason.