Drafting Shane Wright was the best case scenario for the Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken might have walked away with the steal of the 2022 NHL draft when they picked Shane Wright fourth overall two months ago.

Shane Wright was predicted to go first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, but he fell to the Seattle Kraken.

Canadiens fans had already made Wright shirts, and with the draft in their home city it looked like it was destiny that the Canadiens would pick Wright, then all of a sudden the draft happened and things changed.

The Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky who had an impressive season in 2021-22, the Devils went with a defenseman in Simon Nemec and at three the Coyotes stuck with Logan Cooley the player they have been keeping an eye on since getting the third overall pick.

This left Wright available fourth overall, and the rest is history. The Kraken walked away with a steal at fourth overall. Let’s go over a few reasons why.

There is a reason Shane Wright was predicted to go first overall. As a 15-year-old in the OHL, he put up 66 points in 58 games this past season though he did not start out as strong putting up just 22 points in the first 19 games of the season. While that start wasn’t great, he still finished with 94 points in 63 games.

Wright was the player featured during the 2022 NHL Draft lottery event. He was expected to go first overall and not only did he not get picked first, but he also had to wait for the fourth overall pick to hear his name called.

This is giving the Seattle Kraken a generational talent who has to be motivated after getting past by three times, oh and the Kraken have another great center in their organization as well.

A championship team is built down the middle, and now the Kraken have two pieces they will be building rosters around for years to come. The Kraken obviously picked Wright this offseason at the draft, but in 2021 they drafted Matthew Beniers second overall.

Their lineup definitely is not going to include those players for the next few seasons in critical roles, but as the years go by they are going to become critical parts of this organization and could find themselves as the next great one-two punch down the middle, the way teams had players like Crosby and Malkin or McDavid and Draisaitl right now.

The Kraken were given a gift this offseason at the draft and it will be interesting to see what they do this upcoming year and beyond to help build a future contender with Wright.