The Seattle Kraken Need to Address This Issue as Soon as Possible
The Seattle Kraken have one of their biggest stars for the future of the franchise currently on the roster in Shane Wright. Wright was drafted fourth overall at this past year’s NHL Draft, and it is wrong to keep him in the lineup the way things are currently going.
The Kraken have several newcomers on their roster who have been playing well this season, but Wright is not one of them as we approach the end of October. For the betterment of the team down the line, the Kraken need to either start playing Wright more or let him go develop in the OHL.
The Seattle Kraken Need to Address This Issue as Soon as Possible
Shane Wright is going to be the future of this team. He, alongside Matty Beniers, are going to be leading this team for years to come, but that does not need to start with this season. As a young rookie, development is the most important thing for Wright this season.
Shane Wright has played in five of the Kraken’s nine games. During that time, he averaged just 6:51 minutes of ice time and has just an assist. He only has one shot on goal and has the second worst corsi numbers on the team with a corsi for percentage of 43.5 percent.
Wright is not getting the ice time and experience he needs to develop his game further with the Kraken. It would be the right move to send Wright back to the OHL to play top minutes with the Kingston Frontenacs. While I am sure Seattle would like to keep a close eye on Wright and have him around the team, having him sit in the box healthy and scratched most nights is not going to help his game. This brings up the puzzling point of the Kraken not playing Wright more.
The Seattle Kraken do not have a great roster. They are a bit better than last season, but they still are nowhere near the best in the league. Last year Matty Beniers spent ten games with the Kraken, and during that time, he averaged north of 16 minutes a night. He scored three goals and had six assists during his ten games.
It was not much, but it was a good introduction to the NHL, and it has benefited him greatly as so far this season he has been one of the best players on the ice for the Kraken. If the Kraken want to make sure that Shane Wright lives up to the potential of a player drafted fourth overall, then they should go let him play hockey either with the team or in the OHL.
Hopefully, the team will make that move sooner rather than later. The Kraken currently have a record of 3-4-2 and will play their next game Saturday, Oct. 29 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.