Everyone Has An Opinion About Shane Wright

Seattle Kraken 2022 First Round Pick Is Conversation Generator

Get ready, Seattle Kraken fans, for a deluge of "What Will Happen With Shane Wright?" stories. (You're reading one right now!)

Between now and when the Kraken announce their opening-night roster, speculation will not only run rampant about Seattle's 2022 first round draft choice, but will run the gamut as well.

The calendar had barely turned to September when two stories appeared on the same day, with diametrically opposed conclusions.

From Dobber Hockey: "The only lock (if there exists such a thing) among the Kraken prospects to make the opening night roster is Wright."

From Fansided: "The reality is his path to Seattle is blocked unless he exceeds even the wildest expectations at training camp. Sell now while the value is high."

Holy divergent opinions, Batman! Expect to see a variation of these polar opposite viewpoints for the next three weeks, as well as more reasonable middle-ground takes.

Here's mine.

(1) The Kraken are granted an exception to the NHL-OHL transfer agreement, allowing Wright to begin the season at AHL Coachella Valley.

(2) Wright - who's only 19 years old, remember - continues his upward progression begun during his time with the Firebirds in last season's playoffs.

(3) An injury, trade, or Wright's play warrants a call-up to Seattle - but only to play, not to sit in the press box like last year. He does fine, not setting the world on fire.

(4) He's returned to the Firebirds.

(5) Shane Wright earns a permanent place with the Kraken coming out of training camp in 2024. He becomes a productive, if unspectacular, NHL pivot, and five years from now, Kraken fans are laughing at how ridiculous it was to even consider giving up on him when he was only a teenager.

We'll leave the rest of the commentary to Kraken general manager Ron Francis, who spoke with The Athletic Podcast earlier this year.

"In Shane's case, there's no really easy way, right? He got to go play in the top junior tournament of the world, be captain for Team Canada, win a gold medal there, and he got back to playing in junior and at Coachella Valley. 

"So it's a process. Everybody takes sort of a different path. We've had numerous conversations at all points with Shane and his agent and his family, making sure that they understand why we're doing certain things.

"Everybody on the inside and in the know is very comfortable with the process we've taken, and we're comfortable with what we've done with him to this point."