Shane Wright and the Seattle Kraken appear headed for a divorce.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped this bombshell late Friday night, quoting Wright’s agent, Kurt Overhardt. “I can 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 center.”
Although Friedman didn’t squeeze a comment out of Botterill, “Executives who’ve spoken to Seattle said there’s obviously an agreement between team and agent to work together.” However, “the Kraken made it extremely clear they expect a fair price and won’t be pressured into anything they don’t want to do.”
Next question: what’s a fair price? The Kraken, who will publicly be pumping Wright’s value, would privately take exception to his agent’s description of Wright as a “top young center.”
36 goals and 42 assists were the kind of numbers the Kraken dreamed Wright could post in a season. The problem is, it’s taken the 22-year-old two full seasons and parts of two others (169 games) to amass those totals.
Shayna Goldman of The Athletic rendered this damning assessment in May (paywall). “While he hasn’t always had All-Star linemates to lift him up, the Kraken have done a lot to insulate him to maximize his strengths, and he still hasn’t become a difference-maker.”
A cohort of hers labelled Wright as Seattle’s “Most disappointing player,” adding, “The Kraken’s inability to find or develop a star-level player is the story of the franchise after its first half-decade.”
Kraken’s High Expectations
There were hopes Wright had turned the corner. Kraken columnist Bob Condor last October calculated his “11 goals in the final 31 games of 2024-25, a pace that flirts with a 30-goal season. If you choose Wright’s goal-scoring prowess after sitting out three games as a healthy last scratch last November, his 17 goals in 50 games similarly aligns with the 30-goal mark.”
As if wishing could make it so, Kraken management uniformly accentuated the positive last autumn. “He’s had a great camp,” said coach Lane Lambert. Strength coach Nate Brookreson chimed in, “Shane is among our top players in overall fitness.” Botterill added, “You see him making more plays out there, having more confidence with the puck.”
Instead, his goal total dropped from a promising 19 two seasons ago to just 12 last year.
Rocky 2026 Relationship Between Kraken And Wright
Reports of discontent between the center and the club have been brewing for months. Way back in January, sources told David Pagnotta of The 4th Period, “The Seattle Kraken are open to moving Shane Wright. They’ve been searching for a top-six forward and packaging Wright might get them that.”
He hinted that the center wouldn’t be heartbroken to leave. “I don’t get the sense that Shane Wright is overly thrilled with his usage lately. He wants to have more responsibility. He wants to have more ice time. There’s a little bit of disappointment there with respect to his usage from his side of things.”
Friedman confirmed, “The Shane Wright stuff, that he’s available and out there and the Kraken are considering moving him – that’s real.”
Wright himself in January unsuccessfully attempted to snuff out such speculation. “I don’t really care too much about that. At the end of day, it’s just rumors. I’m not too worried about that. I’m focused on the team here and winning hockey games. That’s all I care about.”
The Drumbeat Of Speculation Didn’t Stop
“If Seattle can find the scoring it needs in a trade,” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said in February, “Wright would absolutely be someone the team would entertain moving.” Kypreos said despite the center’s drop in production, there would be suitors. “The collection of NHL teams eager to get younger on the pro roster might want to take a shot at Wright’s upside.”
In his March 2nd 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman speculated that Seattle was still in search of “Somebody who juices their lineup offensively.” He dropped Wright’s name as a trade chip.
Last month, Pagnotta wrote, “Wright is still available and remains open to a move. Botterill continues to scour the market. Teams continue to poke, and sources say the Philadelphia Flyers recently entered the chat.”
Kraken Went From Elation To Trade Speculation
Whatever the Kraken choose to accept in return for Wright, it will pale against them using their 1st round pick, 4th overall in 2022 on the Burlington, Ont. native. At the time, observers were stunned – and then-Kraken general manager Ron Francis was elated – that Wright had fallen into their lap. For much of the preceding year, he was rumored to be the first player taken – and said in an interview he should be.
Why wouldn’t he? In 141 OHL games split between the Kingston Frontenacs and Windsor Spitfires, he scored 86 goals and 197 points.
As to what potential trade partners now see in Wright – besides thinking a change of scenery and a different offensive system might unlock his potential, “Wright profiles as an intriguing two-way center,” wrote Chris Johnston in The Athletic back in February.
Kraken coach Lambert extolled Wright’s improved 200-foot game in a media availability after the season.
More Johnston: “(He) will likely only be moved in a trade that sees a player with similar upside going back to Seattle. The Kraken like their organizational depth down the middle and are looking for a game-breaking winger.”
Premature Postmortem
When hockey fans and pundits look back at the career of Shane Wright a decade from now, they’ll have answers we don’t.
Specifically, did the Kraken fail Shane Wright by uneven lineup usage, constantly changing coaches, and lack of supporting talent? Or did Wright fail the Kraken, squandering the team’s belief that a 4th overall pick should have been their Celebrini or Bedard or McKenna? And, could this relationship have been saved?
Let the debate begin.
Earlier Kraken:
— Former GM Wistful About Kraken Tenure; “Wish You’d Been More Successful”
