NHL Trade Grades for Shane Wright-Matthew Wood Deal Between Kraken and Predators

Shane Wright's name has been on the NHL trade block for more than a year now, especially after he requested a trade out of Seattle early this past offseason.

On Sunday, a trade finally happened.

The Kraken traded Wright, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, to the Nashville Predators in a one-for-one trade that sends forward Matthew Wood the other way.

For Wright, it ends a mostly disappointing five-year run with the Kraken, where he never reached his full potential. Wright entered that 2022 draft as a contender for the No. 1 overall pick, but slid down the board behind Juraj Slafkovsky (No. 1 to the Montreal Canadiens), Simon Nemec (No. 2 to the New Jersey Devils) and Logan Cooley (No. 3 to the then-Arizona Coyotes).

After falling down to the No. 4 overall pick, Wright said he was going to use that as extra motivation and play with a chip on his shoulder.

Outside of a few brief glimpses here and there, it has not quite played out as Wright and the Kraken had hoped.

Now he is moving on.

Now that the trade is complete, let's take a look at some grades for each team.

Seattle Kraken

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Trading a player like Wright is never easy.

You recognize the fact that 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 a similar player in Wood.

He is a year younger than Wright, has 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, with its first two first-round picks in franchise history, both of which came in the top four(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 it 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.

Grade: C+

Nashville Predators

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Everything that was just said about Seattle and Wright kind of applies to Nashville and Wood.

All of the same boxes are checked.

• Talented player.
• Inconsistent results and still largely unproven.
• You want to see them pan out for you and not somebody else.
• Eventually everybody needs a change of scenery, but the trade value is tough.

Even their production has been similar, especially on a per-minute basis.

Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Wright has scored 0.71 goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play, recorded 1.63 total points per 60 minutes and generated 0.71 individual expected goals per 60 minutes.

Wood has averaged 0.75 goals, 1.44 total points, and 0.70 individual expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5.

Very similar.

The only thing that might give Wright a little bit more of an edge is that he might be a better center (which gives some positional value) and a better defensive player, and even with his down year in 2025-26, he did have a 2024-25 season in Seattle that was legitimately pretty good, and the best individual season that either player has had in their limited NHL work.

You can make an argument, based on that, that he is the more accomplished NHL player at this stage of their careers, while also still having the shine of being a recent top-five pick and the upside that could come with it.

It is a solid gamble for Nashville. Now they just have to see if they can help him reach his full potential.

Grade: B