Article: https://thescore.com/nhl/news/3462011
This is the second report about this now. Seems there's some noise around the prior claim which seems there's some validity to. Wondering what people's thoughts are/what you think would be a positive winger trade/target player? Not sure there's too much out there but I do know young centers with lots of upside are valuable in the NHL.
Personally, a bit torn by this as Wright was a favorite player of mine but I know he's regressed a bit into a sophomore slump and perhaps has struggled a bit to produce for us with the new system. He certainly could develop better/quicker elsewhere, but I suppose there's some sentimental value there.
18 comments
It is for the best for both parties. The organization could have developed him better, but they have chosen a veteran center in Stephenson and a top ten prospect in O’Brien to center this line in the now and future. Yes, Wright could be better this year, but you can tell that he is ready to move on, and so are the Kraken. I think he will do great wherever he goes and hope he knows that the fans think highly of him.
I’d be fine if they keep him, but I’m not sure his value is going to go any higher than it is right now and if they could get a goal scoring winger out of it I have a hard time arguing against the idea.
That being said I’d have to think long and hard about who a good target would be. A lot of teams out there need C right now but I dont know of many who are trying to move 30 goal scorers and such.
It may be for the best, but it still makes me incredibly sad. I was so happy for him scoring his first goal against Montreal able to see it live.
>Seattle general manager Jason Botterill is reportedly in no rush to move Wright and has set the price incredibly high.
Yeah, this is nothing-burger.
“Willing to listen to offers” is definitely not “actively shopping him”.
Unless it’s like Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon, you should be willing to listen to offers on *anyone*. It’s just a matter of what you’re setting the price at and how willing anyone is to pay it.
This bit makes it sound like “The trade offer better include someone like Jason Robertson”, which… yeah… we take that in a heart beat. But we’ll see if anyone’s willing to actually give that up to land Wright.
I would bring back Melanson 100%
For me I think he needs a fresh start. I would package him and McCann or Schwartz with draft picks for Jason Robertson. For some reason Wrights development just isn’t important to the coaching staff and front office. He has been playing most of the year with rookies, between Winterton, Nyman, Catton. His production has taken a hit because of this. He also has a short leash and basically can’t make mistakes or he will see less ice time. Love the fact that the coaching staff preaches accountability but accountability seems to fall more towards the youngsters vs the vets. I hope Wright sticks around and gets the opportunity to succeed but quite honestly I don’t see that happening. Let’s be honest, Stephenson is the 1c, and I don’t see this coaching staff moving him to the 3C for a few years.
The timing of this is the frustrating part. If you weren’t committed to him, then you should have moved him coming off of last season when he had scored 44 pts and was being talked about quite highly. Instead they (slightly) decreased his ice time and when his line was finally clicking, split it up.
His underlying numbers are still very strong and should have been rewarded with more play, instead they’ve basically driven his value to its nadir and now will trade him.
I’m fine with them moving on, but it just seems like they went about it in an ass-backwards way.
He’s not a good fit here. Like it was stated above, Melanson did a much better job while called up than Wright did all year. I’m fine with a trade, him and Kakko (who is a terrible disappointment).
There was no noise around the prior other than it was a nothing burger. This article says the exact same thing… “We’re listening to offers” except this correctly points out more firmly we’re not shopping him.
The issue with Pagnotta is he often just blabs with no sources. He is also never careful with his words. His nonsense about Shane whining about ice time was directly contradicted by Marek a week prior and Marek is a much more connected person.
Or let him develop; dudes still young we aren’t exactly setting the league on fire
Seattle sports fans really need to learn how tabloid-clickbait-attention-starved the majority of hockey writers (particularly the old guard) are.
The [TSN segment](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VOR8d_WcuPs&t=2m59s) for those interested. Wright probably the most valuable piece the Kraken have to offer to improve the team. The whole best player available draft strategy only works if can you move the players you draft to better your team. Drafting four centres top 10 was always going to require a move, either to the wing or off the team.
This sub: the national media don’t talk about us
Also this sub: everything they say is clickbait. Dont listen to any of it. Nobody reliable blah blah blah
We should move Stephenson at some point, we’re gonna need to make cap moves to extend our younger players
Stephenson has a NMC til 27-28 then it turns into m-ntc for the final 3 years
I love how everyone says “Kraken screwed up his development” but no one offers any insight as to what the Kraken *should* have done.
IMO the only thing Kraken should have done different was not buy Stephenson at an exorbitant price, suck it up and accept Shane was going to make mistakes occasionally during his learning process, and put him on 2nd line duty.
Honestly the only reason I think Stephenson is on the 2nd line is keeping up appearances. In other words: how would it look if we used our most expensive player as a 3rd line center?
As someone who is a fan of both Nashville and Seattle, I’d be on board with the idea of Forsberg for Wright and picks.
I hate it. Don’t trade my boy
A lot of these talking heads are speculating about using him to acquire a top-6 winger who’s already established (Kyrou, Robertson, etc) — but I think it might make sense to think about this a little different
Yes, you need talented wingers to add to your top 6. But, the Kraken also need to be stacking high-end assets for the future. If you can’t land a Robertson, Thompson, or Thomas in a Wright trade (because these players aren’t actually available), pivot to teams with a lot of young wingers that need a center. The two that stand out the most are Philadelphia and Montreal.
Both are looking for a center to fit into their long-term top-6, and both would prefer a younger player that fits their timeline.
Montreal has an established set of too-6 wingers with Caufield, Laine, Slafkovsky, and Demidov. You aren’t getting any of them (except Laine, who we wouldn’t want) but, they also have a very high-end wing prospect in Alexander Zharovsky. You may even be able to trade Shane for Zharovsky + a high end pick or another prospect. They also have Michael Hage, who is a center that projects more as an offensive second line winger. I’m not 100% sold that Montreal would be interested in moving either, but it makes sense – trade a strength to fix a weakness (the same thing we would be doing)
Philadelphia is just as interesting. They have Zegras (who we probably should have tried to trade for this off-season), Konecny, Tippett, and their own underperforming young forward, Michkov. They also have Porter Martone in their system. Now, I don’t think they would be interested in moving either Michkov or Martone, but if they are, you jump on that with Shane + a pick or good prospect.
What might actually make sense though is Owen Tippett. Is he a proper top-3 player? No, but he’s a fast, physical, goal-scoring second line winger who’s only 26. He’s essentially a better Eeli Tolvanen, and he fits our main need, goal scoring. He also would likely be paired with a decent asset in return if he were the main flyers piece coming back, which helps us build for the future. Is it perfect? No, but if we’re going to keep playing Shane less than 13 minutes a night, this is a much better use of our assets. Tippett is also under contract for a few more years at a reasonable 6m AAV
Another young and interesting winger that might be worth gambling on is Dmitri Voronkov. Columbus also need a future top-6 center, and Voronkov is in an interesting position. He’s 25 and just resigned as an RFA. He’s only got 1 season left on his deal before he’s an RFA again. His numbers don’t pop off the page yet, but he’s improved year over year. He is the proper (future) top-6 power forward that this team is always looking for. Hes a 6’5” 235lb brick wall that lives on the net front. He’s already kind of what you wish Kakko and Nyman would turn into at their size. He’s currently on pace for 28 goals and 50 points playing up and down the lineup for Columbus. You could probably get him + another asset if you were to trade Wright, or maybe Wright and another prospect from our system to ensure Voronkov + decent futures
It doesn’t just have to be Wright for an established top-3 winger. It’s good asset management to even gamble on some young guys that are going to get more opportunities here playing on the wing than Shane is getting right now