Shane Wright plays at center for Kraken in preseason finale, which is where he’ll start this season

EDMONTON, Alberta – Kraken rookie centerman Shane Wright skated out for this preseason finale as part of a lineup looking as close as could be to a dress rehearsal for next week’s regular-season opener.

The fact he was back at center Friday night while incumbent centerman Yanni Gourde had again bumped a spot over as his left wing said everything needed about how this summer’s No. 4 overall draft pick Wright has not only made the team but will likely remain on it all season.

Kraken general manager Ron Francis said as much before his team’s 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place Arena, indicating there’s no reason to return Wright for a fourth year of junior hockey so long as he keeps playing this comfortably once the season opens.

“We’re hoping he can be here all year,” Francis said in an interview on Friday afternoon. “That’s kind of what we were hoping for. The key thing is doing what’s right for him and making sure we’re not affecting his confidence and that kind of stuff.”

That hasn’t been an issue for Wright, who played in the team’s last five preseason games. “There’s a lot of new things he’s facing, but he seems to be getting better and better each game,” Francis said.

NHL rules prohibit 18- and 19-year-olds drafted out of major junior hockey from being sent to the minors. Wright can play in up to nine NHL games before the Kraken would have to either keep him all season or return him to the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL.

Wright for now isn’t taking anything for granted.

“I just wanted to come into camp and like any other player I wanted to earn my spot on the team,” Wright said. “That was my mindset going into this camp. That was what I expected – that I’d have to earn my spot on this team … prove to coaches, the staff and my teammates that I belong here and I can play here.”

The Kraken again playing Gourde on the wing signals they’ll likely open with Alex Wennberg, Matty Beniers, Morgan Geekie and Wright as centers with a couple of bottom roster forward positions still undecided. It was Beniers who snapped a 1-1 tie and put the Kraken ahead 11 minutes into the middle period, chipping home a rebound after Oilers netminder Jack Campbell had robbed Andre Burakovsky with an initial diving stop.

That 2-1 lead stood until Jesse Puljujarvi tied it 4:56 into the final period on a bang-bang pass across the goalmouth. Then, Edmonton took the lead with just 4:33 to go in regulation when goalie Philipp Grubauer misplayed a puck that ricocheted off Leon Draisaitl into the net.

Jared McCann would tie it on the power play with 2:18 to go, but Evander Kane put Edmonton back up just 19 seconds later on a snapper from the left faceoff circle. Connor McDavid added an empty net marker with Grubauer pulled.

The late collapse dropped the Kraken to 4-2-0 on the preseason after winning their first four. It also undermined an otherwise strong Kraken road effort against an Oilers team bolstered with top-scoring regulars McDavid, Draisaitl and Kane.

Beniers scoring his team-high fourth goal this preseason signals he’s ready for his part of this 1-2 youth punch up the middle the Kraken hope to have with him and Wright for years to come. As for forwards still fighting for Kraken roster spots, Daniel Sprong continued his strong push by opening the scoring 12:50 into the game after going for the net and picking up a loose rebound.

“For sure I can score from the outside and from anywhere in the offensive zone,” Sprong said afterward. “But you know, when you go to the net you get five to 10 free ones a year. So, that adds up pretty good. They don’t ask ‘how,’ they ask ‘how many’ at the end of the year. I know that’s part of my game and that the coaches wanted to see better hunger around the front of the net.”

Sprong is one of three forwards – along with Karson Kuhlman and John Hayden – still battling for what could be one or likely two remaining roster spots now that the injured Joonas Donskoi appears unlikely to start the season.

“I think the message that I got in the offseason was loud and clear,” said Sprong, who wasn’t tendered a contract after last season and only received his current one-year, two-way deal last week after being invited to camp on a tryout basis. “I think everyone knows in this league that I can provide offense. It’s the other (defensive) side of the game. I think I’ve shown in the practices and in the games that I’ve listened.”

Kuhlman and Hayden both didn’t play Friday, though Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said that wasn’t an indicator of anything being finalized. He also cautioned the specific lines used in Friday night’s game were not necessarily what the team will go with.

McCann was playing right wing alongside center Beniers with Burakovsky on the left.

Gourde, meanwhile, had played left wing previously on a line centered by Wennberg but was used with Wright this time. Hakstol said he’s comfortable using Gourde both on the wing and as a center against top-scoring opposing lines.

Now, he’ll have a few days to “clean up some pieces of our game” and decide where guys best slot and who the final cuts will be ahead of Wednesday’s season opener in Anaheim, California.

“We’ve had a hardworking camp, a lot of guys that have had good camps,” he said. “Now, we have a couple of days to get a little bit of rest and then it’s for real.”