The Edmonton Oilers are taking a hard look at the center market, and one of the names they’ve checked on is a surprise one: Shane Wright.
Elliotte Friedman said Monday on the 32 Thoughts podcast that Edmonton reached out to the Seattle Kraken about the 22-year-old center. The interest lines up with what the Oilers are hunting for right now - a right-shot center - and Friedman also said Montreal’s Kirby Dach is on their radar.
“I wondered about Shane Wright for Edmonton, and I think they poked around, but I don’t believe that’s going to happen,” Friedman said.
The Oilers’ search comes with Jason Dickinson dealing with an injury concern. He is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season after re-aggravating a lower-body injury, which has forced Edmonton to consider other ways to handle the middle of the lineup. Trent Frederic could slide into the third-line center role, and Colton Dach may also be asked to play center.
That’s why Edmonton has been canvassing the league.
“I think Edmonton is looking for a right-shot center,” Friedman said. “They’ve been combing what’s available.”
Wright stands out because of both his age and his draft status. Seattle picked him fourth overall in 2022, and he played his first full NHL season in 2024-25, finishing with 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games.
He’s still very much a player on the rise, and he’s shown some early preseason signs as well. Wright had an assist and four shots against Vancouver on Saturday, after putting up three shots in a shootout win over Calgary.
Even so, landing him would be a difficult task for Edmonton. Seattle has already invested heavily in Wright since drafting him, and his upside would make him a major trade piece. The Oilers also don’t have much cap flexibility, which would make any deal even trickier.
Friedman downplayed the chances of a move, but the fact that Edmonton made the call says plenty about where its priorities are. With Dickinson’s status unsettled, the Oilers are clearly still searching for help down the middle.
In Other News...
Kraken Youth Movement Still Feels Halfway There
Jason Botterill spent the summer hinting at a younger look up front, one that could have given the Kraken a noticeably different feel on opening night. The idea was simple enough: lean into the players who are still early in their careers and let the roster grow with them, even as the club kept working through the rest of its offseason plans.
The reality, at least right now, looks a little less complete. Seattle still has promising young pieces in the mix, but the group is thinner than the early vision suggested, and the team also came away without the top restricted free agent it had hoped to land. With prospects in Coachella Valley still part of the conversation, the youth movement feels real enough to matter, but unfinished enough to keep the Kraken watching the edges of the roster all season long. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Still Have One Costly Problem They Cant Afford This Season
The preseason score line against Vancouver was close enough to suggest the Kraken were hanging around at even strength, but the special teams picture told a different story. Seattle was beaten 4-3 after giving up too much on the penalty kill, a concern that has lingered through camp as the team tries to settle into a new look under Lane Lambert.
Lambert said the group is still working new players into those shorthanded roles after roster turnover up front, and the shortened training camp has only made that process harder. With veteran preseason appearances limited, the Kraken have not had as many chances as they would like to build chemistry and clean up the details in a phase of the game that can swing results quickly. [Read more 🡒]