If it wasn’t for a 15-year old kid named Shane Wright putting together one of the most dominant “exceptional status” rookie seasons ever produced in 2019-20, I can safely say there would be no Draft Report blog in existence today. It was after I first tuned in to watch him play for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs that my love for junior hockey truly began, and I haven’t looked back since. Wright was brilliant at both ends of the ice and employed a mature, highly-advanced two-way game despite being an underaged competitor on the Canadian major junior circuit, and I hardly missed a single game of his from that moment forward. I greatly admired his well-rounded approach to the center position and the fact that he produced a staggering 39 goals and 66 points to earn CHL Rookie of the Year honours, to me, only enhanced the likelihood of his future NHL superstardom. Wright’s playing career is one I have followed very closely over the last three or four years, so everything contained inside this article has been written from firsthand knowledge of his background and history.
It has been quite difficult for me to watch the ill-informed criticisms and underestimations of Wright being spun lazily into widely accepted “facts” by the fans and media, as I know much of it to be categorically untrue. After topping the point totals produced by former Erie Otters pivot and fellow exceptional status player Connor McDavid at the same age, there was an enormous amount of hype placed upon him and what he could potentially accomplish in his follow-up 2020-21 sophomore campaign. As we know now, however, the OHL cancelled their season entirely and Wright sat on the sidelines during a critical year in his physical and mental development as an athlete. This understandably resulted in a slower-than-expected start to his 2021-22 draft year, but many interpreted it as being confirmation that he just wasn’t the special talent he had initially been pegged as. That unproven narrative led to other 2022-eligible prospects like Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley gaining momentum as legitimate threats to his “top dog” status and contenders to dethrone him as the number one rated prospect for the NHL draft. Incessant questioning in regards to his “underwhelming” production and these supposed threats to unseat him finally elicited a frustrated response from Wright that he “deserved to be the first overall pick”. As one might expect, this statement was misconstrued as arrogance on his behalf and it quickly spread around the online community like wildfire.
While there were rumours that the Montreal Canadiens had plans to choose someone other than Shane Wright with the top draft pick in 2022, most still believed they would select the promising young Canadian centerman over the likes of left winger Juraj Slafkovsky or U.S. NTDP speedster Logan Cooley. That included a large contingent of the Habs fans who attended the draft in their own Bell Centre Arena last summer, with dozens of homemade t-shirts proclaiming him as “the Wright choice” at number one visibly scattered throughout the passionate crowd. The team’s newly minted GM Kent Hughes shockingly went with Slafkovsky rather than Wright, but even more shocking was both the New Jersey Devils (who held the second pick) and Arizona Coyotes (third) also passing on the consensus top-ranked prospect. Finally, however, the NHL’s newest thirty-second franchise (the Seattle Kraken) snatched him up with the fourth overall selection and put an end to what must have been an agonizing and uncomfortable wait in the stands for Wright. He may or may not have sent a piercing death glare towards the Montreal draft table as he took to the stage, yet he was an 18-year old kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders who probably felt somewhat humiliated. I can’t sit here and honestly tell you I would have handled it with more maturity than he did. I don’t think any of us can.
Regardless of the differing opinions out there about Wright’s perceived “attitude issues” (strangely, it was his character and leadership that had been the primary talking points prior) one cannot deny the tremendous hardships he has endured over the last couple of years. It is frankly unprecedented among blue-chip prospects of his caliber, and that seems to get consistently lost in the mix. The purpose of this article is to clear a few of those things up and take a look at how his 2022-23 campaign has played out so far. I firmly stand by my opinion that he has the smarts, skill and upside to grow into a top-line stud for Seattle in the near future, with perhaps a little patience required as he tries to make up for a lost season of development and regain the confidence that allowed him to dominate the OHL at just 15 years old.
RELEASE THE KRAKEN
NHL legend Ron Francis, general manager of the Seattle Kraken, has taken a far different approach to constructing his expansion squad than George McPhee did with the Vegas Golden Knights when he was handed the reigns in 2017. McPhee relied on trades and free agency to build a Cup contender in historic fashion, whereas Francis has opted for the tried-and-true formula of proper drafting and development. He hit a home-run by selecting then-Michigan Wolverines center Matty Beniers with the second overall pick in 2021, a decision that has already paid huge dividends on the ice. By a stroke of luck that nobody saw coming, Francis smacked another home-run out of the park when Shane Wright fell into his lap at the number four spot in last year’s 2022 draft. Acquiring a pair of elite two-way centermen as the building blocks of Seattle’s future gives them a chance to cultivate something special, and there are a vast number of NHL teams who would kill to have that kind of talent at the top of their lineup.
As a big fan and longtime supporter of Wright, I was happy to see him join the Kraken and felt they probably provided him with the best opportunity to succeed right away. The 2022-23 campaign would only be the second season in the team’s existence, which meant the fan expectations for winning were generally lower than they normally would be, and it was made clear and widely understood that they intended to build through the draft. This put the Kraken in a unique spot where they could afford to insert a larger number of rookies and young players into their lineup without having to worry too much about a few mistakes and growing pains along the way. Sure enough, when the team announced its opening night roster for the 2022-23 regular season it included their prized pick Shane Wright. Everything seemed to be falling into place quite nicely.
Unfortunately, head coach Dave Hakstol (whom many Philadelphia Flyers fans point the finger at for the struggles their top young players have had in finding their way at the NHL level) had other more confounding ideas. Rather than providing Wright with the chance to show what he could do, Hakstol used him strictly as a depth forward who averaged less than seven minutes of icetime through his first 3 career big-league contests. In those sub-seven-minute deployments, the 18-year old received no powerplay or top-six time whatsoever but instead toiled away on the fourth line with borderline NHLers on his wings. This usage was utterly baffling to the mind as it was guaranteed to do no favours to Wright’s confidence or comfortability. Then, to make matters even worse, Hakstol made him a healthy scratch on numerous occasions (including games where his grandparents were in the stands) and publicly stated, more or less, that he was not quite NHL ready and they weren’t sure what to do with him. After appearing in 7 games with Seattle where he notched 1 assist and carried a +4 rating, Wright was assigned to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds on a conditioning loan for the maximum allowable 5 games.
DOWN IN THE (COACHELLA) VALLEY
The transfer agreement between the NHL and CHL forbids 18-year olds from playing a full season in the American Hockey League, but there is a clause that allows teams to loan a player to their minor league affiliate for 5 games or two weeks (whichever comes first) once they have been healthy scratched for a minimum of 5 straight NHL contests. The Kraken invoked this clause, supposedly in an effort to get Wright some valuable playing time in a top-six role, and then sent him down to Coachella Valley for further development. In his first career AHL game versus the Calgary Wranglers (Flames affiliate) the young stud scored his first career professional goal after picking an opponent’s pocket on the forecheck and then firing a bullet wrister past the Wranglers’ helpless goalie. He scored in his next couple of games too, notching a pair of markers in a rematch with the Wranglers two days later followed by another big tally against the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim Ducks affiliate) to give him 4 goals in just 3 AHL games. While he failed to record a point over his final 2 contests, he did score the game-winning shootout goal in his minor league finale versus the Henderson Silver Knights. With 4 points (all goals) in his 5-game conditioning stint as a Firebird, the question that begged to be answered was why Dave Hakstol had been so dead-set against giving him valuable minutes at the NHL level. Sure, the team had been winning more games than anticipated and a postseason spot looked like a definite possibility if they could somehow manage to maintain their current pace into next spring, but as an expansion franchise their primary focus should always be on building for the future rather than planning for the present. A short-sighted mentality is the last thing Seattle needs at this stage, and yet that is precisely how I interpret Hakstol’s often bizarre handling of Shane Wright this season.
WRIGHT VS. SLAFKOVSKY, WRIGHT VS. MONTREAL
With a highly successful 5-game stint in the AHL completed, the fourth overall pick of the 2022 draft fittingly returned to the NHL just in time for their matchup with the team that had so infamously passed him over with the number one pick: the Montreal Canadiens. During a post-draft interview in the summer of 2022 Wright had confirmed that he would definitely be playing with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to prove himself as the best player to come out of his draft class. On December 6 he rejoined his teammates in Seattle to square off against the Habs and their shiny new first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, the massive 6’3”, 238-lb. Slovakian winger with whom he will likely be compared to for most of his career. Though Wright downplayed the personal significance in typical Canadian fashion, the way he came out flying in the first period spoke volumes about what it truly meant to him. He generated a couple of grade-A scoring chances with his newly formed linemates Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde that nearly landed him his first career goal on multiple occasions, and after continuing to drive the net and battle for space in front of the cage he was finally able to cash in with a quick one-timer wristshot that knotted the game up at 1-1 and brought the home crowd fans to their feet. The eighth game of Wright’s NHL career was far and away his best to date with 1 goal on three shots, a big block in the defensive zone and over eleven minutes of icetime (although he still received zero powerplay minutes). The Kraken lost to Slafkovsky (who had a secondary assist) and the Habs 4-2, but it was an important game and possible turning point that is likely going to lead to even bigger and better things from the now-confident rookie this season.
WHAT’S NEXT?
With 8 NHL games now officially under his belt, Wright is allowed to play for Seattle just once more before the team will be forced to either send him back to junior or burn the first year of his rookie contract. Based on the progress he has shown from the start of the year until now, plus the positive attitude and unmatched work ethic he brings to the ice, I believe he is more than ready to compete against the best of the best on a nightly basis. But will he actually be given a chance to establish himself in the league without being terrified that any little mistake could lead to another demotion from the coaching staff? The answer to that question remains unclear. The Kraken also have the option of releasing Wright to play for Team Canada at the upcoming U20 World Juniors tournament if they so choose, and that might not be such a bad idea either. He could gain some invaluable experience by competing for gold against the very best under-20 players on the planet, but Hakstol may also want him in the lineup if it gives his team an edge in their playoff chase. These are decisions that will need to be made within the next couple of weeks at the very most. Time is running out, so let’s hope the Seattle Kraken (and Hakstol in particular) have learned from their past mistakes regarding Shane Wright’s deployment and usage. He’s ready for a greater challenge than either the OHL or AHL can adequately provide right now. He is ready for the big time.
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