Following his first Seattle Kraken practice Tuesday, forward Matthew Wood spoke about his trade from the Nashville Predators. Wood (and the new anchor jerseys) are both expected to debut Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Calgary Flames.
Playing 5 Hours From His Boyhood Home On Vancouver Island
“A bit of a shock, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t be happier, couldn’t have picked a better place. It’s a bonus to be close to home and see family a bit more.” When he called his family to tell them: “They thought it was maybe April Fool’s Day. Everyone’s super excited and so am I.”
“First day and I’m loving it. Everyone’s really dialed into the hockey side of things. Everyone’s been super welcoming, super kind. I’m getting a lot of phone calls, with family coming out to a (Kraken home) game pretty soon.”
Knowing Kraken Teammate Berkly Catton
“We played a little bit of Team Canada events a couple years ago. He’s a great player, great guy. We were roommates over in Switzerland.”
Self-Scouting Report
“I am a pretty offensive player. I like to produce, score goals. Obviously, defensive side of the puck is super important. I have enjoyed working on that side of my game the past couple years.
Learning To Penalty Kill
“I never really penalty killed ever. My rookie season, I was trying to get more ice time, and also see what the penalty kills doing in terms of the power play side of things, try to learn both sides of it. So I sat in on those meetings. Anything the coaches want me to do is something I’m going to work on.”
“The penalty kill is always working really hard, so it’s important if you’re on the power play to be working harder if you want to score. There’s a lot of little details as well, stick details and things like that. Positionally, that helped me defensively.”
Kraken Coach Lane Lambert On Wood & Shane Wright
On Whether Wright’s Trade Request Affected The Team: “I don’t think it did at all. Player agents make comments. I thought that was something that was left in the rearview mirror. At the end of the day, Shane came in, he worked, and, we worked with him.”
On Wood: “A big body, plays both center and wing. He’s killed penalties, played on the power play. He’s got a great hockey IQ. From everything I’ve heard, he’s a great kid.”
“We had him slotted in today in practice with a couple of veteran guys (Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson) to try and make that transition easier. There’s communication (needed), because we do things a little bit differently than they did there.”
Earlier Kraken:
— Ex-Kraken Wright: “I wanted more opportunity.”
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks On Their Own Sad Little Planet
BONUS VIDEO: The “Kraken Reaction!” following the trade …
