The Seattle Kraken are looking to continue their retool and enter the playoff conversation again after missing the dance for the past two seasons.
Seattle made splashes in the 2024 offseason, bringing in Stanley Cup champions Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour to add to a stout core that was competitive for most of the team's third season in the NHL.
The Kraken ended up going 34-35-13 and finishing seventh in the Central Division to miss the playoffs for the second straight season. Seattle has not made the playoffs since the 2022-23 season, when it went 46-28-8 before losing in the second round to the Dallas Stars.
This is a team that has shown that has made it to the dance before despite a short four-season existence, but it needs just a little bit more juice.
Jared McCann, the leading scorer in franchise history, held it down for them on the top line last season, scoring 22 goals and 61 points in a full 82-game season next year, but they are going to need help from scorers further down the line if they want to compete in a loaded Central Division.
And one 21-year-old center showed flashes of being able to do just that in 2024-25.
Shane Wright has a chance to change complexion of 2025-26 Kraken
After a complicated start to his NHL career, Shane Wright finally showed flashes of what put him in conversations to be the consensus first-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
While it took a couple of years for him to fully arrive at the NHL level, Wright shined bright in his first full season with the Kraken in 2024-25. He scored 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games while boasting a plus/minus of plus-7 on a Kraken team that had very inconsistent runs of form under one-and-done coach Dan Bylsma.
Wright played in just eight NHL games each in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He scored a goal and an assist in the first of his two eight-game stints, then added four goals and five points in 2023-24. In the meantime, he was also showing flashes of brilliance at the AHL level.
In his lone full AHL season in 2023-24, he scored 22 goals and 47 points in 59 games for the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He turned his game up to another level when the playoffs rolled around, adding four goals and nine points in 12 games while helping the Firebirds to a deep playoff run.
The 6-foot-tall centerman was touted out of the OHL as someone who can break the puck out effectively and be a quality playmaker. He is effective at finding his teammates in space and opening up the ice for them.
For a Kraken team that lacked depth scoring in 2024-25, having Wright operate near his full potential could open up a world of possibilities for them. He is currently projected to center their third line next to snipers Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz and could help both of them bounce back from disappointing seasons.
Eberle scored nine goals in 42 games after missing a large chunk of time due to injury, while Schwartz clocked in a team-leading 26 goals last year. Both players have proved to be capable of hitting the 30-goal mark in the past, and Wright could help put them well on their way.
Having a player like Wright reach his full potential could do so much for a Kraken team that lacked quality scoring. They finished in the middle of the pack in goals scored and lacked a top-of-the-line scorer in 2024-25. He could end up being that guy if he takes the steps necessary.
