According to reports, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has shifted his focus and is now checking in on Seattle center Shane Wright, who asked for a trade earlier this summer.
Wright is a name that still carries plenty of weight. The Burlington, Ontario native went fourth overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, though for much of his draft year and before that, he was projected to go first overall.
He was one of the rare players granted “Exceptional Status,” which let him enter the OHL at 15. In his final, shortened junior season, he averaged nearly two points per game.
This is a player with real pedigree.
A scouting report online put it this way:
“Shane Wright is a highly intelligent, two-way center…Scouts project him as a reliable Patrice Bergeron-style player who excels at controlling pace, making smart tape-to-tape passes, and delivering a lethal shot with a quick, deceptive release.”
The 22-year-old is listed at 6’0” and 192 pounds, shoots right, and brings a game built more on brains and structure than pure burst. Scouts describe his skating as solid and fluid rather than explosive, with his value coming from hockey sense, positioning, and steady effort.
The numbers also tell an interesting story. Wright has a 17.6 shooting percentage across 169 NHL games, and that climbed to 20.9 percent in his rookie season of 2024-25, when he scored 19 goals.
On the other hand, faceoffs have been a problem. His career mark sits at 42.8 percent, and last season it dropped to 39.7 percent.
The deeper metrics are mixed, but one stat stands out: his career 5v5 Goals for Percentage is 56.30 percent, and it was 55.56 last season during what the source describes as a sophomore slump. That comes with the caveat that he has been playing on Seattle teams that have been, by the source’s description, uniformly mediocre.
There is also the less flattering side of the scouting report. Wright can disappear for stretches, and that has led to questions about confidence and comfort.
Still, the fit in Pittsburgh makes sense. Sidney Crosby is still Sidney Crosby, but the source notes that even he has already started to slip, especially in the defensive zone.
Tommy Novak handled the second-line center role well enough last season, but he is not viewed as a long-term answer. Ben Kindel, only 18, has shown flashes of a mini-Sid type of presence, but his ceiling is still uncertain and is generally projected as a No. 2 center at best.
Beyond that, Tristan Broz, 2025 first-rounder Bill Zonnon, and newcomer Hendrix Lapierre are all still question marks. That leaves the Penguins with a clear need for a young center with real pedigree.
The price, though, would not be light. Kraken GM Jason Botterill is not expected to simply hand Wright over, and he should have plenty of interest around the league.
The rumor is that Seattle wants a high-end defensive prospect or the equivalent in assets. That brings Harrison Brunicke into the conversation, and parting with him would be a tough call, especially with Erik Karlsson nearing free agency and likely to leave, and Kris Letang fading fast.
The alternative would be draft picks, even a first-rounder, which would be easier to stomach.
Either way, Dubas would be facing a difficult decision.
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