Seattle Kraken recall ’22 first-round pick Shane Wright from AHL
Nov 8, 2023, 6:10 PM | Updated: 6:14 pm
Rookie Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright skates against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 17, 2022. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Shane Wright is set for his return to the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle’s top pick in the 2022 NHL Draft has been recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League along with fellow forward Ryan Winterton, the team announced Wednesday night.
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Wright, 19, has six points (four goals, two assists) in seven games this season in the AHL. He last played for the Kraken in December 2022, scoring his lone NHL goal in a loss to the Montreal Canadiens, who famously picked over Wright months earlier with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Wright had long been the presumed top pick for 2022 but instead slid to Seattle at No. 4.
In addition to eight games with the Kraken last season, Wright spent time with Canada’s World Juniors squad, Coachella Valley, and finally the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League.
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Winterton, 20, was a third-round pick by the Kraken in the 2021 draft. In seven games with the Firebirds this year, he has five points (three goals, two assists). He played 34 games with the London Knights in the OHL last season.
The #SeaKraken have recalled forwards Ryan Winterton and Shane Wright from the Coachella Valley @Firebirds. pic.twitter.com/ynvrextjO4
— Seattle Kraken PR (@SeattleKrakenPR) November 9, 2023
According to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, Kraken forward Jordan Eberle suffered a cut to his leg from a skate blade during practice Wednesday, necessitating the moves.
The Kraken have been without two other veteran forwards due to injury in recent weeks. Brandon Tanev hasn’t played since the first game of the season on Oct. 10, when he suffered a lower body injury, while Andre Burakovsky underwent a procedure last month to repair an upper body injury that was expected to keep him out 6-8 weeks. Tanev could be close to a return, as he first got back on the ice for morning skate with the team last Thursday.
The Seattle Kraken (4-6-3) are fifth in the NHL’s Pacific Division with 11 points in the standings, a slow start for a team coming off a surprise postseason run in 2022-23. After losing 4-3 to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night, they’ll look to rebound at 6 p.m. Thursday in a road game against the Colorado Avalanche, the same team Seattle beat in a seven-game series in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last April.
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