Kraken plan to give Shane Wright feel for NHL game, but not for too long
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Kraken prospect Shane Wright says he’s learned plenty more about professional hockey since his last stint with the team four months ago.
Namely, the No. 4 overall pick in the July 2022 NHL draft is figuring out how to hang on to the puck and play a better defensive style when away from it. And now, with limited games to see Wright play before next season, the Kraken seem determined to give the centerman as much on-ice time as possible to show what he’s gained.
“I think it’s just the little things out there on the ice,” Wright, 20, said after Monday’s morning skate of improvements made his first full AHL season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. “Just learn how to play a 200-foot game. Obviously, as a centerman, that stuff’s important. I want to be a guy that can contribute offensively, but also be able to play against other teams’ best players defensively. Faceoffs as well, are a big thing for a centerman, too.
“And just the little things to be able to win games. Not every game is going to be a shootout. You’re not always going to be able to win by four or five goals. So, you learn how to do little things and win those tighter games.”
Wright did just that while scoring on a give-and-go play with new linemate Jordan Eberle in Monday night’s first period against the San Jose Sharks. He carried the puck in two-on-one, made a nice backhand pass to Eberle and then put the return volley between a defender’s legs and into the net.
Wright was centering a line featuring veteran wingers Eberle and Jaden Schwartz as opposed to limited fourth-line action mostly seen in prior Kraken stints.
Kraken general manager Ron Francis confirmed Monday the plan is indeed to give Wright more ice time. Francis said Wright won’t appear in more than six remaining games — otherwise it would trigger the first of his three-year, minimum-salaried, entry-level contract — and may not play beyond the next five. The Kraken embark on a four-city road trip after that and Francis will likely send Wright back to Coachella Valley a game early to prepare for the AHL playoffs.
“I think it gives him a little feel for the league and where he’s at and where his game has come from two years ago until now,” Francis said. “And if there are things he feels he still needs to work on moving forward, we’ll get a look at it here in the next five games and we can address those down there (Coachella Valley) at the end of the season and playoffs and the offseason so he’s ready to go when the (NHL) season starts next October.”
Wright averaged just 8 minutes, 29 seconds of playing time in each of his eight Kraken games last season and 9:47 during three contests with the NHL club in November. Eberle has averaged 17:25 per game this season and Schwartz is at 16:20, so Wright playing with both wingers should see his NHL minutes just about double.
He wound up with more than 15 minutes of playing time in Monday night’s affair.
The finer points of being a top-flight center, which carries more defensive responsibilities than wingers have, weren’t always something Wright could focus as hard on in major junior hockey. Junior teams are run as for-profit businesses, not prospect development camps, and players such as Wright were largely counted on to score goals and put fans in seats.
That’s one reason the Kraken sought an exemption for Wright to begin his AHL career this season rather than next. Though he appeared in eight Kraken games last season, a transfer agreement between major junior hockey and the NHL requires all teenage draftees not yet 20 be returned to their junior teams and not a minor professional league if they fail to stick with the big club.
That forced Wright to spend most of last season back in junior hockey and he would have done so again this season — missing the age cutoff by five days — without the onetime exemption. Allowed to play in the AHL, he’s scored 20 goals and added 23 assists in 56 games.
His goals total is fifth highest among AHL rookies, while his 43 points are seventh. He’d managed 18 goals his first 43 games but has just two the past 13 while working back from an undisclosed upper-body injury — believed to be a concussion — that sidelined him the final two weeks of February.
Once considered a shoo-in as the No. 1 overall NHL pick, Wright famously fell to the Kraken at No. 4 because of a confluence of events. The Montreal Canadiens caused a surprise by taking Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky at No. 1, while the New Jersey Devils, picking second, were already loaded with center prospects and opted for Slovakian defenseman Simon Nemec at No. 2.
Arizona caused a bigger stir by taking American-born center Logan Cooley from the U.S. National Development Team Program at No. 3, leaving the Kraken to snag Wright at No. 4. Slafkovsky and Nemec, who are from European leagues, were not subject to NHL transfer rules and played in the AHL right away while Cooley — who also wasn’t impacted by those rules as an American junior circuit player — opted for the NCAA.
All three are NHL regulars while Wright is still waiting to break in.
Wright said he wasn’t exactly deprived of a chance to hone defensive skills in junior hockey. But in the AHL, he’s going up “against some of the best players in the world. You’re not always going to have possession of the puck in the offensive zone. You’re going to have to learn how to play in your own end and weather their offensive attack.”
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol confirmed he will indeed be giving Wright extensive time at even strength and on the power play.
“To really be effective, with the type and style of player he is — but really for any player — it’s difficult when you’re not in a rhythm,” Hakstol said after Monday’s morning skate. “So, we want to make sure he’s in a rhythm. And he’ll get that opportunity.”