The Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken have agreed to a swap of young forwards, with center Shane Wright heading to Nashville and winger Matthew Wood going to Seattle.
For the Predators, this is a swing on upside. Wright has been in trade talk for a while, and the Kraken never quite got the version of the former fourth-overall pick they were hoping for. Nashville is betting it can unlock him and maybe solve a lingering need down the middle in the process.
Wright’s season has started quietly. Through 14 games, he has three goals and one assist for four points. He has shown stretches that hint at the player Seattle envisioned, but his best NHL season so far remains his 2024-25 line of 19 goals and 44 points.
His contract situation is straightforward enough: Wright is in the final year of his three-year entry-level deal, carrying an $886,666 cap hit. Because the contract slid for the first two seasons, it has stretched across five years. He will be a restricted free agent after the season.
Seattle’s return is Wood, a player who has already drawn attention as one of the league’s more interesting young power forwards. At 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds, he brings the kind of frame that stands out immediately, and his rookie season backed up the hype with 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points in 71 games.
Wood has also opened this season slowly, with one goal and two assists for three points in 14 games. That’s the one wrinkle for Seattle here: the Kraken are banking that his early promise holds, and that he doesn’t follow the path of the last goal-scoring power forward to come out of the Predators’ system. Tanner Jeannot erupted for 24 goals as a rookie, then managed only 27 goals over the five seasons that followed.
In Other News...
Tye Kartye Is Giving The Rangers A Boost They Desperately Needed
Tye Kartye has quickly gone from a waiver pickup to one of the more important forwards in New Yorks early-season mix. Since arriving, he has settled into a meaningful role on the Rangers third and second lines, giving them a steady blend of energy, defense and offense at a time when they needed help up front. For a club looking for dependable wingers, Kartye has been one of the brighter surprises in the opening stretch.
The Rangers have leaned on him more than they probably expected, and that kind of usage tends to say plenty about where a player stands with a coaching staff. If Kartye keeps producing at this level, his place in the lineup should only get stronger, with a contract extension becoming a real possibility down the road. For Seattle, it is another reminder of how quickly a useful piece can become someone elses answer. [Read more 🡒]
What Shane Wright Really Brings To The Predators Now
Seattles latest roster move sends a familiar young forward out the door after Shane Wright spent parts of multiple seasons with the Kraken and their AHL affiliate. The trade gives the organization a different kind of prospect to work with in Matthew Wood, a first-round pick in 2023 who arrives after completing his rookie season with Nashville.
For the Kraken, the deal also closes the book on a player whose development had been watched closely since he entered the league as a top pick. Wrights path in Seattle included stretches with both the NHL club and its AHL affiliate, and the swap reflects another shift in how the team is shaping its young core while adding a player with a fresh start and a different timeline. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Just Made A Shane Wright Move Fans Will Judge Quickly
The Kraken made a notable roster swap just ahead of a stretch that will put them face-to-face with Nashville, sending forward Shane Wright to the Predators and bringing in Matthew Wood, a 21-year-old right wing who was taken in the first round in 2023. General manager Jason Botterill announced the deal, which gives Seattle a different young forward to work into the mix and adds another layer of intrigue to a matchup already carrying some extra edge.
Wood arrives with NHL experience from last season, while Wright leaves Seattle after being drafted in the first round in 2022. Both players are expected to join their new clubs before the upcoming games between the Kraken and Predators, so this is the kind of move that gets judged quickly, especially when the two teams are about to see each other and the swap is still fresh enough to color the conversation around both benches. [Read more 🡒]