{"id":954980,"date":"2026-11-02T01:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T01:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954980\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T01:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T01:52:11","slug":"kraken-predators-swap-shane-wright-matthew-wood-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954980\/","title":{"rendered":"Kraken, Predators Swap Shane Wright, Matthew Wood \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

It looks like a pair of recent first-round picks will be swapping teams. According to Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman<\/a>, the Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken are working on a trade that would send Shane Wright<\/a> to the Predators and Matthew Wood<\/a> to the Kraken. According to Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Hockey<\/a>, it\u2019s a one-for-one swap. The Kraken announced<\/a> the trade.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an intriguing change of scenery for both players. Wright, 22, has been mentioned in trade speculation for the last few months. In early July, Friedman reported<\/a> that the Kraken were actively working with Wright to find him a new situation. A few weeks later, Ben Kuzma of The Province reported in an article<\/a> that Wright listed the Vancouver Canucks as his preferred destination, with the Canucks being reported to have mutual interest in acquiring him.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a few months, and Wright was still with Seattle. Although he remained interested in a trade, Wright committed to the Kraken for the time being and joined the team for training camp. Now, the former fourth-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft finally gets his wish.<\/p>\n

Throughout his first professional season, Wright played eight games for the Kraken and eight games for the AHL\u2019s Coachella Valley Firebirds. He was relatively average in the NHL, scoring a goal and an assist while averaging 8:29 of ice time on Seattle\u2019s fourth line. Seattle returned Wright to the OHL, where he joined the Windsor Spitfires, who had acquired his rights from the Kingston Frontenacs. Wright finished the OHL season scoring 15 goals and 37 points in 20 games with a +8 rating.<\/p>\n

Wright returned to the professional ranks later that season, helping the Firebirds reach the Calder Cup playoffs. In the postseason, he registered two goals and nine points in 24 games. Wright appeared in eight more games for the Kraken the following season, but mostly featured with Coachella Valley. He finished the 2023-24 season with 22 goals and 47 points in 59 games with a +6 rating, with another four goals and 13 points in 12 postseason appearances.<\/p>\n

Since then, it\u2019s been all NHL for Wright. Initially, Seattle believed that Wright was blossoming into the player who was the projected first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. It was a solid campaign as Wright finished with 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games with a +4 rating, averaging 14:04 of ice time per game. Still, his 44.4% faceoff rate and 89.4% on-ice SV% at even strength left a lot to be desired, especially since Wright was billed as a solid two-way center, even drawing comparisons to Patrice Bergeron<\/a> when drafted.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Wright has not improved. In 88 games since the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign, Wright has scored 15 goals and 31 points with a +6 rating and a dismal 40.6% faceoff rate. The stalling of his development increased frustration in Seattle, leading to today\u2019s trade.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Meanwhile, the Kraken will replace Wright with Wood, who was drafted a year after Wright with the 15th overall pick. Once a star player at the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota, the Predators are moving on from him one year after he completed his rookie season.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t generate any votes for the Calder Trophy, but Wood\u2019s 2025-26 campaign was viewed as a promising step in the right direction. Wood finished the season with 17 goals and 30 points in 71 games, with an impressive 16.5% shooting percentage.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Wood has gotten off to a rough start this season. In 14 games, the former first-round pick has scored one goal and three points with a -2 rating, averaging 14:03 of ice time per game. Coupled with the fact that General Manager Chris MacFarland<\/a> wasn\u2019t the one who drafted him, it makes sense that he was willing to move on from Wood relatively early. Regardless, the Kraken now have a shoot-first winger they can pair next to Berkly Catton<\/a> on their third line.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It looks like a pair of recent first-round picks will be swapping teams. According to Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,189992,760,4247,768,183154,82,4584],"class_list":["post-954980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-matthew-wood","tag-nashville-predators","tag-newsstand","tag-seattle-kraken","tag-shane-wright","tag-sports","tag-transactions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}