Seattle’s asking price for Shane Wright is turning heads, and not in a subtle way.
The Kraken are reportedly shopping the 2022 fourth overall pick, but they’re doing it with a premium tag attached. Wright, who was taken ahead of Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, and Frank Nazar, put up just 12 goals last season after a solid 2024-25 campaign, and that drop-off has only sharpened the questions around his fit in Seattle.
That production alone would make the market tricky. Add in the fact that Wright “doesn't offer a great face-off percentage of defensive metrics” and the picture gets even murkier. Seattle may be ready to move on, but they’re not acting like a team in a hurry.
According to Rick Dhaliwal, the Canucks reached out on Wright and got a steep response from the Kraken. The names being floated on Seattle’s side were Zeev Buium or Tom Willander.
“Canucks like Shane Wright. They approached Seattle about him but the ask was very high. You know Seattle wants either Buium or Willander.”
That’s a hefty ask by any measure, especially with Buium already serving as a key return in the Quinn Hughes deal. Seattle is essentially treating Wright like a player who could still become something much bigger, and they’re asking another team to pay for that upside now.
The problem is that Wright’s current profile doesn’t exactly line up with that kind of return. He has the pedigree of a former top-five pick and he’s still in his early 20s, so there’s value there. But the price being discussed sounds more like a premium for a potential top-pair defenseman than for a center who may top out as a 2C.
His usage doesn’t help the case much either. Wright has averaged only 13:40 of ice time in his career, so Seattle hasn’t exactly handed him a massive runway. Even so, the Kraken may feel they’ve seen enough to know where they stand.
Toronto’s name has also come up as a possible fit, but the Leafs have already shown how far they’re willing to go for the right player. They don’t want to move Matthew Knies if they can avoid it, and while Easton Cowan and Ben Danford have been available in conversations, those talks were tied to a Norris Trophy winner who changes the offense, not a 2C gamble.
That’s the key difference here. Wright still has untapped potential, and that always keeps the market alive. But if Seattle keeps asking for a blue-chip defender in return, they may find the list of serious suitors gets very short, very fast.
If the Maple Leafs can somehow work out a deal for Wright - and maybe even send Morgan Rielly back the other way - it could end up making sense. If not, Seattle may need to recalibrate.
Because right now, the price isn’t Wright. It’s the ask.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Push For Veteran Upgrade As Familiar Cap Tension Builds
After a busy stretch of roster tinkering, the Maple Leafs are still shopping for another top-six forward, with the front office weighing both trade possibilities and free-agent avenues. The search is not limited to one position, either, since Toronto is open to adding a center or a winger as it continues to reshape the group around its established core.
The challenge, as always, is making the math work. Toronto is operating under familiar cap pressure, which means any meaningful addition may depend on moving someone out first, and the club has to be compliant by the start of the season. For now, the Leafs are doing the usual summer balancing act: keeping options open, monitoring veteran names, and trying to find a fit without creating a new roster problem in the process. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Could Turn Anaheims Cap Squeeze Into A Risky Scoring Upgrade
Anaheims latest roster business has created the kind of cap-pressure ripple that always gets watched closely around the league, and Toronto is one of the teams that could be tempted if the price is right. The Ducks just locked up Leo Carlsson on a five-year deal, and with restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier still hanging over their books, they are looking for ways to open space. Frank Vatrano is the veteran name now floating in trade chatter, and his contract has put him squarely into the sort of conversation contenders tend to monitor.
For the Maple Leafs, the appeal is obvious enough: a chance to add scoring help without waiting for the market to sort itself out. The complication is just as obvious, because Toronto would have to create room before taking on Vatranos deal, and that is never a small task for a club already managing a tight cap picture. Even with Anaheim willing to make the move easier, the Leafs would still need to decide how far they want to go to chase a risky offensive upgrade, especially with bigger roster questions still unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Just Faced Their Biggest Young Core Decision Yet
A day of front-office churn added another layer to the Maple Leafs offseason reset, with Hayley Wickenheiser departing after eight years in a variety of roles around the organization. Her exit came as Toronto continued to reshape its hockey operations group, a process that has already included other notable departures and reflects how much change has been flowing through the club behind the scenes.
The Leafs also moved on from director of amateur scouting Mark Leach and senior advisor of player personnel Dave Morrison, underscoring that this is more than a single personnel move. For a team trying to keep its footing while reworking the people in charge of finding and developing talent, the bigger question now is how much more of the old structure is left before the next phase of the overhaul takes hold. [Read more 🡒]