1/29/2026: A little over a week after the initial reports emerged that the Kraken were considering trading Wright to acquire a dynamic top-six scoring winger, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta issued an update on Wright’s situation.
According to Pagnotta, not only are the Kraken seriously considering dealing Wright, but now “word has spread” that Wright himself may also be seeking a change of scenery, and that the relationship between the player and club in this case “may be on the ropes.”
As one would expect, Wright was unwilling to go into great detail when asked by the media about his name surfacing in trade rumors. He told the media, including local outlet Sound of Hockey, that he’s “not too worried” about the reporting and speculation surrounding his future.
As we covered last week, Wright has been unable to gain the trust of first-year head coach Lane Lambert, who has thus far been unwilling to grant Wright the greater lineup role most expected him to earn this season. It could be that the slowed pace of Wright’s development has frayed the player’s relationship with his team, potentially helping pave the way for a deal that allows him to continue his career elsewhere.
1/22/2026: The Seattle Kraken are reportedly open to trading 2022 No. 4 overall pick Shane Wright as they pursue adding an impactful top-six scorer, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Pagnotta wrote yesterday that the Kraken have “been searching for a top-six forward,” and believe including Wright in a deal could be the key to landing a caliber of player that makes a real impact on their team.
That Seattle is even considering trading Wright would have been a stunning development before the start of the 2025-26 season.
Entering the season, Wright looked well on the way to becoming a long-term core piece in Seattle.
His development path in years prior endured a few stops and starts, but 2024-25 was Wright’s first campaign as a full-time NHLer, and he blossomed.
He scored 19 goals and 44 points, the second-most points by a Kraken center and production that was just seven points behind 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky.
Wright’s encouraging NHL campaign ensured he was viewed as a key cog in the Kraken’s future plans. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked him as a top-25 U23 player in the entire NHL, writing that Wright “has no noticeable flaw in his toolkit” and “could be a second-line center on a top team or a fringe 1C on a lesser team.”
In a league where quality centers are always in high demand, he looked to be an asset for the Kraken that got as close to “untouchable” status as anyone on their roster. The belief was that Wright and 2023 Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers would form a formidable backbone of two-way centers through whom the Kraken could anchor their forward lineup.
Wright’s 2025-26 season has, unfortunately, appeared to change the team’s calculus looking into the future. While Wright saw real developmental gains under former head coach Dan Bylsma, that momentum appears to have largely stalled under new coach Lane Lambert, even as Lambert keeps the Kraken in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
The hope for Wright was that after finishing the year as one of Seattle’s top scorers despite earning just 14:04 time on ice per game, he might be able to earn a greater role in his sophomore campaign, and something that could consequently power an even greater developmental leap.
That has not happened so far. In fact, it’s been the opposite. Wright has struggled to gain a foothold in Lambert’s lineup, averaging just 13:43 time on ice per game, with a second-unit role on the power play and no role on the penalty kill.
For a variety of reasons, including his role, Wright’s production has declined steeply. He’s scored 17 points in 49 games, which is just a 28-point 82-game scoring pace. His shooting percentage appears to be a major culprit, as he converted shots into goals at a nearly 21% rate last season, but is hovering at 9.3% this year.
Wright’s shooting ability was generally assessed by scouts to be his most high-end offensive tool, so the fact that he is struggling to find the back of the net this season only compounds concerns about the current state of his development.
With Wright’s current situation in mind, it can’t be a huge surprise to see his name surfacing in trade rumors. It may have come as a great surprise entering the season, but Wright’s development appears to have stalled to the point where a trade is only a natural thing to consider.
Whether that would be the best idea for the Kraken is, of course, a matter of debate.
On one hand, Wright remains an undeniably talented center on a team still short of high-end pivots. While his struggles this season may have shifted his projection in the eyes of some evaluators, the reality is he is still just 22 years old. There’s still reason to believe he can end up becoming the high-end second-line center scouts have long believed he’d develop into.
Impactful two-way top-six centers don’t grow on trees, and any deal involving one, even a potential future player for that role, becomes a difficult deal to win.
Trading Wright this season would also be, undeniably, “selling low” on a player who was a premium draft pick and high-end prospect. This season has been the low point of Wright’s career since being drafted, so it would be an inopportune time for Seattle to trade him, from a pure value standpoint.
On the other hand, the Kraken could badly use a dynamic offensive creator, and even the high end of Wright’s projection doesn’t include a realistic possibility of him becoming one. Centers are in demand across the NHL to a severe degree, and even with his struggles in 2025-26, Wright still figures to command a significant amount of value if dealt. There’s no doubt that if he were dangled in a trade, the Kraken would have the buying power to be able to land the kind of winger that fits their clear need for a dynamic offensive creator.
When considering what kind of player the Kraken could target if they indeed shop Wright, they could either leverage his age, pedigree, and positional value to land a more established scorer than Wright is at this moment (perhaps even adding other assets to swing a deal for as high-end of a target as possible), or they could target a winger in a similar developmental situation to Wright who happens to better fit the kind of talent profile they’re targeting.
If they elect to pursue the latter tactic, a name such as Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson checks a lot of boxes. He was the No. 5 pick of the draft before Wright’s, and like Wright, appeared to be nearing “untouchable” status in his market after 2024-25.
He scored 57 points in 68 games, looking every bit like the hyper-skilled, dynamic offensive creator he was drafted to be. Also like Wright, Johnson’s 2025-26 season has been virtually unrecognizable compared to the year prior.
A player such as Johnson, even with his struggles this season, would require a significant trade asset in order to pry loose — which is where Wright could come into the picture. The idea of a Wright/Johnson deal is entirely speculative, of course, as there have been no firm reports of who Seattle might be targeting specifically.
But when examining the league-wide landscape for players who could be a fit in a Wright deal, his name emerges as an intriguing possibility, as both players look like they could benefit from a change-of-scenery transaction.
Regardless of what player Seattle might target — or if they end up even trading Wright at all — Pagnotta’s report underscores how important Wright is to the Kraken’s future.
He’s either going to get his development back on track and become a valuable two-way pivot in Seattle, or the team will leverage his trade value to acquire an impactful roster addition. Either way, his progress is one of the key storylines to watch in Seattle moving forward.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Jake Bean of centers.
This seems short sighted. I’m certainly not his biggest fan and don’t watch a lot of the Kraken the step back in point production isn’t drastic and comes with slightly reduced usage as well. For a player that young that’s still not gotten that much time in the NHL it seems a bit silly to trade for a replacement.
Lane Lambert likes low scoring checking forwatds. He has no use for offensive talents and uses them sparingly if at all. First he sends down Jani Nyman, now this. What’s the point of drafting young talent if you are just going to waste them. The Kraken are not going to win anything ever if they think this group is a serious playoff contender
If they trade Shane Wright…I’m done with this team. This organization hasn’t a clue how to draft n develop young talent…time to move on…
Nothing changes until Ron Francis gets the he’ll out.
Seattle likes old, Slow players, Remember when they gave up on Morgan Geekie? Wright is a solid 3rd center now, He also hasn’t reached his ceiling, He would be a good add for Chicago.
Man, I’d take him on the Kings for a reasonable price! I’m a guy that loves potential, and we need a center, so this rumor is basically meant to make me excited lol. If it’s going to take a Byfield or Laferriere, I’ll pass here. I’ll give a couple picks and Turcotte, though.
You beat me too it Turcotte and a couple of picks would be a good deal. They both are high picks that need a change of scenery.
Turcotte, Moore & a 2nd!
Because you’re including Moore, you can maybe even bump that down to a third rounder. A second rounder wouldn’t hurt either, but that should still be good! Him and Byfield are a solid center pairing now that I think about it
Terrible in the dot and mediocre possession numbers despite cake deployments and high PDO.
There’s a lot more that’s wrong here than SH%. Not a fan of the coach, whose biases and style aren’t doing Shane any favors. But this leak is probably an attempt to smoke out more interest, because I doubt any offers to date have been worth much.
I think part of the problem with the article is it mentions his ice time as an issue in conjunction with his shot percentage. He’s averaging 20 seconds less a game compared to last year and he’s shooting way more. He’s 16 shots on goal away from his total last year with a ton of games left. They just aren’t going in as much as they did last year.
Maybe it doesn’t work out in the Kraken organization or under Lambert but to sell low now especially when you’re got 4 forwards as UFAs coming up doesn’t seem wise. Not to mention the Kraken could use a stud goal scorer and people aren’t just giving those guys away.
I think that’s the key question: why aren’t they going in?
Getting more granular than S% or TOI, his 4.2 individual High Danger Chances For/60 this year is 1st on the Kraken (min. 20 GP) and better than his 3.4 iHDCF/60 last season. His 0.82 individual xG%/60 is 3rd, better than last season’s 0.65. And his 0.99 xG/60 vs 0.62 G/60 is the biggest underachieving ratio on the team.
Lambert might have his ice time low but he’s deploying him in tons of favorable situations (O-zone, sheltered matchups) that’s giving him enough chances. I’d wait it out instead of trading the kid.
Jordan kyrou?
I saw this on daily faceoff yesterday.. didn’t like it then, and don’t like it now. Shane has shown himself to be plenty capable of putting the puck in the net when given a decent set of wingers. Far more reliably so than Matty. Granted, Matty has stepped up his game this year and his defensive qualities are far stronger than Shane’s, but they’ve barely given dude a chance to play his game while being incredibly patient with Matty, and now Kakko. I guess what I’m suggesting is they should be trying to support Shane rather than shop him. Who would be an actual improvement? They should be shopping Kakko and Ryker Evans, maybe even Tolvanen. Hey maybe it’s a little gamesmanship? You say Shane’s available? Not for that return, can I interest you in Tolvanen? But the UFA part of Tolvanen’s situation could be a hiccup.
Props to the author of the article too. Nicely written and thoughtful.
100% – don’t all need to be this way but like some of these longer more in depth analysis / review
One thing missing is just how loaded Seattle is at center. Beniers, Wright, Catton, O’Brien are all looking like comparative projections. On top of that they have Stephenson and Gaudreau and now Ben Meyers is looking like a solid No.4. I think the idea of trading him isn’t about giving up on him, it’s about recognizing he’s a valuable asset they can afford to move to add someone like Kyrou.
Don’t do it.
Calgary
Blake Coleman or Nazem Kadri
to
Seattle
Shane Wright
Kadri would never accept a trade to seattle
You know this how?
The Kraken do need to trade a forward, but selling low on Shane Wright doesn’t feel like the right move. The problem is they have too much of the same player. Once everyone was healthy, they moved Melanson down which really made it obvious how much they need a player like him. I’m ok trading any one of Eberle, Schwartz, McCann, or Tolvanen. Whoever brings back the most. I know all those guys are better than Melanson, but they are all the same and we need something different.
Conor Garland and Raty for Shane Wright?
I feel like Pittsburgh could make a play. What does Seattle need most right now?
Supposedly Francis and Dubas are tight.
We already had Daigle and Angelo Esposito.
Not sure we need another overhyped CDN draft bust.
Are teams still regretting passing over him??? Lol
I can see Pittsburgh in the mix maybe Koivunen to Seattle , Wright to Pitt. Or Wright to Chicago and Dach to Seattle.
A transaction with the Winnipeg Jets would make sense, in which we would include Lane Lambert’s nephew, Brad Lambert, who also wants a change of scenery.
Meanwhile Wright has two goals tonight.
Ron Francis needs to go. And the fact that Lambert has him on the third line not even playing a 15 minutes a game is ridiculous. Of course he’s not gonna develop. Watch him go somewhere else and flourish.