Lane Hutson Behind Logan Cooley: Corey Pronman Recaps the 2022 Draft

Corey Pronman's revised rankings of recent drafts continue.

This morning, it was the 2022 draft's turn to be analyzed by the man who has been ranking young NHL players in every possible way for the past few weeks.

So we were watching to see what he'd do with the Canadiens' prospects.

Finally, we have our answer: if he had to do it all over again, Juraj Slafkovsky would still be the first overall pick. The Canadiens winger is ranked in the “all-star” category—and he's the only one there.

You can read the results of his work on The Athletic's website.

Re-ranking the 2022 NHL draft class https://t.co/iJmBlZF3IJ

— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) August 27, 2026

The real question was how Lane Hutson—originally drafted 62nd overall—would be rated by Pronman. Pronman hasn't always been his biggest fan.

And recently, he chose not to rank him as an All-Star.

He doesn't belong in the category of players who haven't played in the NHL → https://t.co/aek8mFVpG0

— DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) August 19, 2026

Pronman is consistent in his approach to the 2022 redraft, as Lane Hutson finds himself, along with Cutter Gauthier, in a category called “top-of-the-line player.” But they aren't stars.

Hutson is ranked third, one spot ahead of the Ducks player.

Ahead of them? Logan Cooley of the Mammoth. The former Arizona Coyotes draft pick was ranked ahead of Hutson after a season in which he scored 43 points in 54 games, but it's important to remember that Pronman evaluates long-term potential.

But even so, we know this will spark some debate.

He therefore believes the center will be more valuable than the left-handed defenseman in the long run. We'll see if time proves him right (he's taking a risk here), since Hutson is still quite important to the Habs right now.

We know a center has value. But the way Hutson is playing, he could even rank ahead of Slaf without it being a glaring mistake.

Extension

Elsewhere in the rankings, seeing Shane Wright at number seven tells me that Pronman isn't ready to give up on a young player who hasn't shown much of anything positive in the past four years.

Owen Beck (30), Adam Engstrom (35), Vinzenz Rohrer (55), and Filip Mesar (just kidding—he wasn't ranked) are also among the analyst's 61 picks.