Shane Wright scratched for 5th consecutive game.
Shane Wright's struggles continue.
It's hard to reconcile what we have seen from once highly touted National Hockey League prospect Shane Wright thus far in the National Hockey League with the incredible amount of hype that there was behind him coming into the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and no doubt it has been a hard situation to manage for the Seattle Kraken organization themselves.
On Saturday night, Wright will be scratched by Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol for the 5th consecutive game and that isn't a great look when you consider he has appeared in just 7 games for the Kraken all season. To make matters worse, Wright has been given just barely 8 minutes of ice time on average over those 6 games, not exactly great for the development of an 18 year old NHL prospect.
Hakstol himself tried to downplay the decision:
“We’re really aware that playing games and getting game time is really important," said Hakstol of Wright. "The game time that he has gotten here has been limited, but it’s been really valuable.”
That of course beckons the question, why isn't he getting more of it if it's proven to be so valuable?
It seems there may be a bit of silver lining here for both Wright and the Kraken and it may even be that these 5 consecutive scratches are part of a bigger plan moving forward. Earlier this week NHL insider Darren Dreger revealed that an important clause would be activated in such a scenario, one that could lead to more playing time for Wright, albeit not in the NHL.
"It's very likely he's going to stay with the Kraken," said Dreger this week as per TSN. "Now, here's an interesting sidebar to this story because there is a clause inside the agreement between the NHL and the CHL that allows junior-eligible players like Shane Wright to be loaned to the American Hockey League. Now, to qualify, Wright would have to be a healthy scratch in the NHL for five straight games. He can only be loaned once to the AHL and can only stay for a maximum of 14 days.
"So, I believe this is something that the Kraken are considering and they're also looking at loaning him to Canada for the World Juniors."
While this has to be a frustrating situation for the 4th overall pick in the draft, it may mean that he will actually get to some games under his belt this season.
