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Davy Jones Locker Room about 2 hours

Shane Wright wants out, and his development is the key to why

Elliote Friedman of SportsNet revealed in a bombshell that the Kraken were once again exploring all options with Center Shane Wright, as according to Wright’s Agent that he could “…confirm that we have had positive conversations with GM Jason Botterill, and he has agreed to move Shane this summer to a team in need of a top young centre,” This of course, set off a brand new wave of discourse around the Kraken, Shane Wright, and how we got to this point. So…let’s review. On July 7th, 2022, the Seattle Kraken had a potential franchise forward fall in their lap. Throughout the entire season leading up to that moment, forward Shane Wright was predicted to go 1st overall. When it was Montreal’s time to choose, they selected Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovský. To the surprise of many, Wright would continue to slide down the draft order after New Jersey and Arizona opted for other players. All of a sudden, Seattle had a no-brainer decision to make – they selected Shane Wright at 4th overall. Fans rejoiced at the result, knowing that Seattle was blessed with a rare talent. The next decision was also a no-brainer: Send Wright back to the OHL for a year. He lost a year of ice time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his size made him not quite ready to step onto the NHL ice just yet. Front office faced an interesting situation: Wright was too good for the OHL, but too young to play in the AHL – so, how can they develop him? Instead of putting him in the lineup, they decided to keep him as a healthy scratch, allowing him to practice with the team. While I can get behind this decision, we all know this is not a good long-term solution. Players need to play the game – not just practice. By Christmas, Wright was sent back to the OHL, where he scored 37 points in just 20 games. Another move that I can get behind – this gave him the opportunity to play in the World Junior Hockey Championship, where he was the captain of Team Canada. After that season ended, the development path improved. Because the CHL season ended, Wright was eligible to play for Coachella Valley in the AHL – and helped them in their deep playoff run, playing in all 24 games and gaining a good amount of time with the coaches. He was finally able to play with professionals instead of amateurs. In the 2023-24 season, the Kraken were able to qualify for an exceptional age ruling – allowing Wright to play for Coachella Valley even though he wasn’t 20 years old. This proved beneficial yet again; Wright scored 22 goals and 47 points in 59 games. They called him up to the NHL for 8 games, where he scored 4 times, while averaging 13:32 minutes per game. He was scoring at a pace of 41 goals a season – not bad, right? To this point, management had done about all they could do while handling him with kid gloves. Wright had shown he was NHL-ready – he was performing at every level, and the results were showing. In 2024, he cracked the team’s roster, where he went on to score 19 goals in 79 games – while averaging 14 minutes of ice time per game. His 2025-26 season saw some setbacks, with him scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 73 games, while averaging 13:48 minutes per game. This had some fans questioning whether Wright was truly NHL-ready – or if he was a bust. And now we’re here. Likely seeing the last offseason of Shane Wright in a Kraken Uniform. In my opinion, it is not Wright’s fault at all – and here is why: What Brought Us Here 1) Coaching consistencies…or lack thereof. In the 3 years that Wright played in the NHL, he had 3 different head coaches. Between all levels of hockey, he has played for 7 different head coaches since being drafted. His most successful professional season was with Dan Bylsma at the helm – both while Wright played for Coachella and the Kraken. Once the Kraken fired Bylsma (after just one season, when he was given a subpar roster to begin with – but that is a conversation for another day), they brought in current head coach Lane Lambert. Lambert’s style of coaching did not seem to fit Wright’s style of play, resulting in a decrease in stats. Instead of working with Wright and giving him an opportunity, Lambert decided to leave him to his own devices – and work with Coach Jessica Campbell on the possession side of his game, allowing his skillset to develop under her tutelage. This offseason, the Kraken and Campbell parted ways – which of course means yet another coach for Wright. I have never seen a player go through so many personnel changes in such a short amount of time – and it clearly has played a role in his development; without a consistent style and desire for his game to take shape, he’s stuck. 2) A player’s salary should not equate to ice time…and yet! After the 2023-24 season ended, the Kraken decided they wanted to prioritize faceoff skills and handed free agent Chandler Stephenson a 7-year contract at a $6.25 million cap hit. While on paper this move made sense; Stephenson had won 2 Stanley Cups, and 52% of his faceoffs throughout his career…the reality is that this move directly affected the goal production of the team. Stephenson has scored 20 goals only once in a season – and only 118 goals in his 653-game career thus far. In the first season of his Kraken tenure, Stephenson scored 13 goals while averaging 19:31 minutes of ice time. Meanwhile, Shane Wright scored 19 goals while averaging just 14:04 minutes. Why have a 19-goal scorer sit on the bench while your 13-goal scorer hogs the ice? This is surely not a winning recipe. This also was not an isolated situation: this same pattern continued into the 2025-26 season. Stephenson scored 16 goals while averaging 19:23 – while Wright scored 12 goals with just 13:48 minutes of ice time. The reality is that you should play the players who will give you the best on-ice production – not the players who cost you the most. 3) Chemistry takes time, and he wasn’t given any. Wright had the most success during a time when he was on the same line as Eeli Tolvanen – who is no longer on the active roster, as management has opted to not discuss a new contract with him. Over the last two seasons, Wright has not experienced consistent linemates much at all – he has played with Eberle, McCann, Tolvanen, Kakko, Bjorkstrand, etc. It is difficult for a player to feel supported in development with linemate chemistry if the lines constantly change. To give you an idea of where Wright is, he has played significant minutes with just about every single player in the Top 9. And this is just this year! | Hockeyviz.com At the end of the day, yes, Wright is being paid a nice wage to play a team sport with a lot of changing on the fly, so he should be able to step out there and perform. But – management and ownership should actually give him opportunities to succeed. The facts are there – his lack of consistency in coaching, linemates, and ice time are all direct factors that affect a player’s stat line. I do not blame Wright for looking for a new home – if I were experiencing the lack of direction and consistency in the prime developing years of my career, I would look for a new employer, too. While GM Botterill has said that he will trade Wright, my honest hope is that management gives Wright an opportunity in a top-6 role consistently with players like Kappo Kakko and new acquisition Mackie Samoskevich and see what happens. I think fans and ownership will be surprised if they’re willing to just let this kid finally, finally find himself in this sweater.

Sounder at Heart about 2 hours