Simon Nemec, Slovakia.
“With the fourth overall selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Seattle Kraken Select…” Who will it be? This has been a big question at the forefront of our minds since the 2021-22 NHL Season ended for the Seattle Kraken.
Despite falling to the fourth spot in this year’s draft, the Seattle Kraken have the opportunity to add top-end talent to their prospect pool for the second year in a row. Selecting Matty Beniers second overall last year will be hard to top. However, there is a plethora of talent in this year’s draft.
What is unique about this year’s draft is that many experts disagree about how the draft will go after Montreal selects Shane Wright with the first pick. This leaves Seattle with an expansive list of options at fourth overall, depending on how the New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes draft before them.
They could select a defenseman and bolster their blueline. We saw just how impactful a strong defensive core is to a championship team in Colorado. And if a team wants to be successful, they have to follow the patterns of success in the league.
Ron Francis could also select a forward. Matthew Beniers is a great foundation for the future. But, he could benefit from having a partner to help him carry the load. This draft could be an excellent opportunity for the Seattle Kraken to find themselves a dynamic goal-scorer they desperately need.
Regardless of which direction they decide to go, there really isn’t a wrong answer for the Seattle Kraken this year. With the draft just a few hours away, our experts at Pacific Northwest Sports have decided to weigh in on who they believe Seattle will when they are on the clock with the fourth overall pick.
The Kraken will almost certainly go with defenseman Simon Nemec. Especially if the first three picks play out as expected. Adding a quality right-handed defenseman is difficult. Adding one who could become your franchise’s backbone is even more difficult, and that could be what the Kraken have with Nemec.
Although I’ve always been on team Seamus Casey when it comes to my favorite defenseman in this year’s draft, Nemec is undoubtedly the most touted defensive prospect in this year’s draft. He has all the makings of an elite two-way defender, and he could easily be the next great Slovakian.
The Kraken already have their future first-line center with Matty Beniers. Now they can add their future top pairing defenseman and get a core in place that could become a mainstay of the next twenty years for Seattle hockey.
For me, it has to be Simon Nemec. He’s the best defenseman prospect in this class, a position where the Seattle Kraken needs a legitimate number one guy. Only 18 years old, Nemec has played three seasons for HK Nitra in the Tipos Extraliga. That’s the highest level of professional hockey in Slovakia. A league that includes David Krejci, Peter Mueller, Roman Horak, Tomas Plekanec, and Martin Ruzika. And he’s more than held his own against grown men.
His ability to move the puck offensively and make the right pass shows a high hockey IQ. In addition, Nemec is a steady defender in his own zone who is rarely out of position. Nemec needs to add some bulk and get acclimated to North American ice. A little time in the AHL could solve both issues. But he won’t be there long.
I have gone back and forth between whether I believe the Kraken should select a defenseman or forward. The team could benefit from adding talent at every position. In the end, however, I think it smart for Ron Francis to select the best defenseman available in this year’s draft.
Two players really stand out to me in this regard. The race between Simon Nemec and David Jiricek is a tight one. Both are very similar players, and while Jiricek seems to fit Ron Francis’ vision for his blueline, it is Simon Nemec’s name I expect to hear when Francis steps up to the podium to make his selection.
Nemec is an incredible two-way defenseman who excels defensively. Playing alongside men for the last three years has allowed him to accelerate his development exponentially. Having the kind of success he had this season, especially in the international spotlight, speaks volumes of who he is as a player. It also shows that he will soon be ready for the responsibilities of the NHL.
The fact that he is a right-handed defenseman also makes him even more valuable to the Seattle Kraken. His desire to make the transition to playing in North America after the draft shows that he has the drive and wants to prove himself. He is ready to have an immediate impact, and I think he has the chops to do it this year or next.
Dan White
Jordan Dumais from the Halifax Mooseheads won the CHL sportsmanship player of the year. He’s a great player with speed and scored 39 goals and 70 assists for 109 pts in 68 games. And only 6 penalty minutes all year. His size at 5’9” and only 165lbs will have him getting overlooked. The same thing happened to Connor Garland when he played for the Monkton Wildcats. He ended up as a 5th-round pick for Arizona and is now potting 20 goals like it’s nothing.
Dumais had 15 more points than potential first overall pick Shane Wright this year and 19 more than Matthew Savoie in Winnipeg. His 109 points is a new single-season franchise record for the Mooseheads, passing Nathan McKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Nico Hischier.
Jonathan West
I’m not a big draft prognosticator, but my pick is Swiss defenseman Lian Bichsel. Not only does he have the length you can’t teach, at 6’6”, and he’s already at 225-pounds as a junior. He was recently promoted to the Swiss Hockey League from his junior team. And he’s a smart kid- speaking four different languages. One of those is Philip Grubauer’s native German tongue, and maybe he can give better defensive communication to the Kraken back line.
Who do you think the Seattle Kraken will draft with the fourth overall selection? Let us know in the comments below.