Trading a player like Wright is never easy.
You recognize the fact he is still only 22 years old and has shown some ability to be an NHL player. There is still some potential there, there is still plenty of ability, and there is still a chance he puts it all together. If that is going to happen you want it to happen for your team and not somebody else. That makes you want to keep giving that player an extended look, a long leash, and every opportunity to succeed.
At some point, however, you just have to recognize that, for one reason or another, it is just not working as you hoped. At that point you have to wonder how long you are going to keep waiting for the player to pan out, especially when the player in question has already requested a fresh start.
The issue then becomes the trade value.
There are always going to be teams interested in taking a gamble on a player like Wright, but nobody is going to give up a lot for a player that has become more of a suspect than a prospect.
If you are Seattle, you are either going to get a player just like the one you are trading away (a talented, but unproven player that might need a change of scenery), or a mid-round draft pick (or some comparable value to that).
Everybody is just rolling the dice at that point and hoping for lightning in a bottle.
Seattle ended up getting the similar player in Wood.
He is a year younger than Wright, accomplished a little less in the NHL, and is also probably in need of a fresh start. He is also a different type of player than Wright in terms of style, playing a bigger, more physical offensive-minded game.
The frustration for Seattle is that its first two first-round picks in franchise history, both of which came in the top-three (2021 No. 2 overall pick Matty Beniers), they did not get a single impact player out of it. Beniers is good, but he has not taken a big step. Wright has shown flashes, but not consistently. Now he is gone, and now all shifts to their ability to help Wood reach his potential.
Talent-for-talent, it is fair value. But it is still a disappointing end to the situation.