Kraken Open Training Camp With Bottom-Six Battles and Shane Wright Trade Buzz Swirling

The Seattle Kraken opened training camp on Thursday, September 17, with a roster that has more questions than answers in several spots and a name at the center, Shane Wright, still floating in trade rumors as the season approaches. The first preseason game follows this Saturday, kicking off a camp that will move faster than usual and settle jobs in a hurry.

This is the first Kraken camp under the NHL's restored 84-game schedule, the league's first return to that format since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. That change compresses everything. Camp runs 14 days instead of 21, teams play four preseason games instead of six, and no player will appear in more than two of them. Whoever shows up in playing shape and ready to compete has a real edge, because there is almost no runway to work off summer rust.

Bottom-Six and Blue-Line Battles

Seattle heads into camp needing to replace three departed veterans: Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen. Hosts on the Seattle Kraken Audio Network described the top-six forward group as essentially locked in, which pushes nearly all of the open competition down into the bottom six. Names in that mix include Ayani Newman, Ryan Winterton, Jacob Melanson, Yager Furkis, Oscar Fisker-Molgar and John Hayden.

Newman drew a specific challenge from the broadcast, with hosts saying they want to see more from him in camp than a one-timer from the power play. On the blue line, the Kraken have only one departed defenseman to replace, but that spot is not settled either. Josh Mahura, Cale Fleury and Tyson Jugnoff are the names in that conversation. Fleury played 23 games last season, and whether that turns into a full-time role this year remains an open question.

One name generating its own storyline is forward Curtis Douglas, whom hosts described as physically imposing enough to draw double takes in person. Nobody expects him to play all 84 games, but they are watching what his presence does for the lineup when he is in it. That makes him one of the camp's more interesting fringe cases.

Shane Wright's Crossroads

The bigger story hanging over camp is what happens with Shane Wright, both on the ice and possibly off the roster entirely. A commenter on Sound Of Hockey laid out an optimistic version of Seattle's top six: Jared McCann paired with Matty Beniers, Mackie Samoskevich potentially starting alongside them given his past chemistry with Beniers, and Wright himself possibly bumped up to second-line center between Jordan Eberle and McCann if he has a strong offseason and camp. The commenter was careful to note that promotion depends entirely on Wright showing up ready, calling it his "only hesitation."

At the same time, trade speculation around Wright has not gone away. Citing hockey insider David Pagnotta, a report from nhltraderumors.me states the Kraken remain open to moving Wright, but only as the headline piece in a deal for an established player rather than as a throw-in for another unproven prospect. Pagnotta said on Sekeres & Price that Seattle does not want to "package him up just move him out for another young piece," and that the goal instead is to use him "as a primary piece for a big fish."

The report notes that Seattle already tried this path twice. Wright was reportedly part of trade talks for Artemi Panarin last year that did not come together, and this past summer the Kraken tried including him in separate deals for Jordan Kyrou and Jason Robertson. Both of those fell through as well.

Wright is 22 and entering the final year of his entry-level contract, carrying an AAV just under $900,000. He will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Last year he played 74 games with 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points, averaging 13:48 of ice time, numbers that look modest for a former first overall pick who has yet to see second-line minutes on a regular basis.

Put those two threads together and Wright's camp becomes the thing worth watching most. If he takes a real step forward in the next two weeks and earns that second-line center job, the Kraken's incentive to trade him only grows, since a bigger role and better production make him more valuable as trade bait for exactly the kind of established scorer Seattle has chased and missed on twice already. If he struggles instead, the front office may not have much choice but to keep running him out at a role that has not produced results so far. Either way, this camp looks like it will answer more about Wright's future than about who wins the fourth-line wing jobs.

More Info

• Seattle Kraken Audio Network (93.3 KJR): Hosts break down open roster battles after losing Oleksiak, Schwartz and Tolvanen | Seattle Kraken Audio Network (93.3 KJR)
• Report: Seattle Kraken Open To Trading Shane Wright | nhltraderumors.me
• Five questions heading into Seattle Kraken Training Camp | Sound Of Hockey