Kraken trade Shane Wright to Preds for forward Matthew Wood

The Seattle Kraken traded center Shane Wright to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Matthew Wood in a swap of former first-round picks Sunday.

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Wood, the No. 15 pick in the 2023 draft, has one goal and two assists in 14 games for Nashville this season. The 21-year-old right-shot forward has 18 goals and 16 assists in 91 career games over three seasons.

In first full season of NHL action last year, the 6-foot-4, 202-pound Wood had 17 goals and 13 assists over 71 contests.

“Matthew is a young forward who adds size and an elite shot to our group,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said in a statement. “He’s a skilled player, with high hockey sense, who demonstrated his offensive potential last season as a rookie in the National Hockey League. We’re thrilled to welcome Matthew to Seattle and excited to see his impact on our team. We thank Shane for his contributions to our organization and the city of Seattle, and we wish him all the best in Nashville.”

FIRST CAREER HATTY FOR MATTHEW WOOD! 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/VShUQRVxZR

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 11, 2025

Prior to being selected in the first round of the ’23 draft, Wood played three seasons collegiately, spending his first two college seasons at the University of Connecticut before playing his final year for the University of Minnesota. During his lone season with Minnesota, Wood was tied for second on the Golden Gophers with 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) while helping the team win the regular season Big Ten title and reach the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

A Nanaimo, British Columbia, native, Wood also played on the international stage for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championships.

Wright, 22, was the No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft. He has three goals and one assists in 14 games for Seattle this year. A right-shot center, Wright has 39 goals and 43 assists in 183 career NHL games over five seasons with the Kraken.

Wright’s first full season was the 2024-25 campaign when he posted career highs of 19 goals and 25 assists in 79 contests.

NHL insider Elliot Friedman in July reported Wright’s agent said Botterill had “agreed to move” Wright to a new team during the summer, but the former top prospect instead remained on Seattle’s roster when the 2026-27 season began.

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