Matthew Wood’s first day with the Seattle Kraken came with a welcome surprise: a new team, a new practice, and the possibility of playing just five hours from his boyhood home on Vancouver Island.
After his first practice with Seattle on Tuesday, the forward talked through the trade that brought him over from the Nashville Predators and said the move caught his family off guard. Wood and the Kraken’s new anchor jerseys are both expected to make their debut Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Calgary Flames.
“A bit of a shock, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t be happier, couldn’t have picked a better place. It’s a bonus to be close to home and see family a bit more.”
When he called his family to tell them: “They thought it was maybe April Fool’s Day. Everyone’s super excited and so am I.”
Wood said the first impression in Seattle has been a strong one. “First day and I’m loving it.
Everyone’s really dialed into the hockey side of things. Everyone’s been super welcoming, super kind.
I’m getting a lot of phone calls, with family coming out to a (Kraken home) game pretty soon.”
He also already has a connection in the locker room. Wood and Berkly Catton crossed paths through Team Canada events a couple years ago and later roomed together in Switzerland.
“We played a little bit of Team Canada events a couple years ago. He’s a great player, great guy. We were roommates over in Switzerland.”
On the ice, Wood described himself as someone who wants to create offense first, while still putting work into the other end of the rink.
“I am a pretty offensive player. I like to produce, score goals.
Obviously, defensive side of the puck is super important. I have enjoyed working on that side of my game the past couple years.
That work has included learning more about penalty killing, something he said he never really did before.
“I never really penalty killed ever. My rookie season, I was trying to get more ice time, and also see what the penalty kills doing in terms of the power play side of things, try to learn both sides of it.
So I sat in on those meetings. Anything the coaches want me to do is something I’m going to work on.”
He added that the experience helped him understand the details that matter in that role.
“The penalty kill is always working really hard, so it’s important if you’re on the power play to be working harder if you want to score. There’s a lot of little details as well, stick details and things like that. Positionally, that helped me defensively.”
Kraken coach Lane Lambert said Wood brings size, versatility and a strong hockey brain, and he also addressed the situation around Shane Wright.
On whether Wright’s trade request affected the team, Lambert said: “I don’t think it did at all. Player agents make comments.
I thought that was something that was left in the rearview mirror. At the end of the day, Shane came in, he worked, and, we worked with him.”
On Wood, Lambert said: “A big body, plays both center and wing. He’s killed penalties, played on the power play.
He’s got a great hockey IQ. From everything I’ve heard, he’s a great kid.”
Lambert said Seattle eased Wood into the group by putting him with Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson in practice.
“We had him slotted in today in practice with a couple of veteran guys (Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson) to try and make that transition easier. There’s communication (needed), because we do things a little bit differently than they did there.”
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Kraken Lineup Picture Suddenly Looks Different Ahead Of Flames Rematch
The Krakens lineup picture looked a little different at practice ahead of their rematch with the Flames, with Matthew Wood joining the group for the first time since arriving in the trade that sent Shane Wright to Nashville. It was the kind of early-week skate that can tell you plenty about where a roster is headed, especially when the team is trying to sort out how a new forward fits into the mix.
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For Larsson, the appeal is as personal as it is professional, because this is the kind of stage where friends and family can be in the building to watch. Goalie Philipp Grubauer offered a similar perspective from Germany, describing a hockey upbringing that felt connected to the broader European game and saying Finland brings back those memories, which gives this trip a different feel as Seattle prepares for a rare overseas showcase. [Read more 🡒]