The Shane Wright Era in Seattle has come to an end. The Kraken traded the 22-year-old former No. 4 overall pick to the Nashville Predators on Sunday in a 1-for-1 trade for 21-year-old winger Matthew Wood.
Wright, whose agent, Kurt Overhardt, publicly requested a trade for his client over the offseason, was off to a solid start to the season and showing good chemistry with 20-year-old budding star Berkly Catton. Despite that, and despite Wright and his agent indicating that he was committed to the Kraken at the start of the season, we could still sense that the issue was not resolved.
Now it’s resolved, and Wright has received the fresh start he desired.
What Matthew Wood brings
Seattle’s return in the deal, Matthew Wood—born in Lethbridge, Alberta, but raised mostly in Nanaimo, British Columbia—was selected one year after Wright and is one year younger at 21 years old. He also was a deeper pick in the NHL Draft at No. 15 overall, playing at the time for the University of Connecticut before transferring to the University of Minnesota for his junior year, where he racked up 39 points (17-22—39) in 39 games for the Gophers. He then turned pro and played six games down the stretch for the Predators at the end of the 2024-25 season.
“Matthew is a young forward who adds size and an elite shot to our group,” general manager Jason Botterill said. “He’s a skilled player, with high hockey sense, who demonstrated his offensive potential last season as a rookie in the National Hockey League. We’re thrilled to welcome Matthew to Seattle and excited to see his impact on our team.”
As a rookie in 2025-26, Wood posted an impressive 17 goals and 13 assists in 71 games, plus a goal and three assists in five AHL games for the Milwaukee Admirals.
This season, however, has not started the way Nashville—or Wood—likely would have wanted. While many expected a big breakout season for Wood, he’s gotten off to a very slow start with just one goal and two assists in 14 games while averaging just over 14 minutes per game of time on ice.
How Matthew Wood fits in Seattle
Wood brings more size than Wright at 6-foot-4, 202 pounds, and he is viewed as a true winger and power forward. Wright, on the other hand, is a center at heart and had been moved to the wing as coach Lane Lambert’s trust in him to win face-offs and play a full 200-foot game eroded over the last two seasons.
In the immediate, Wood could slide directly into the spot vacated by Wright on the line with Catton and Kaapo Kakko, though it remains to be seen how he will be utilized. Surely, Seattle is hoping that a change of scenery and role will give Wood a needed boost to avoid a season-long sophomore slump and get him back to producing the way he was last season.
As a prospect, Wood was known more for his size, shooting ability, and hockey IQ than his speed, which was noted by Elite Prospects as an area for improvement. From watching highlights, he still does not look particularly fleet of foot, but the Kraken do have a lot of speedy players already, so they must have felt they could sacrifice a little in this area, close out the Shane Wright drama once and for all, and get better in other ways.
The Shane Wright Era ends
It is a Shane… I mean a shame… that things went the way they did for Shane Wright in Seattle. The expectations for him were so high after he slipped from consensus No. 1 overall pick to Seattle at No. 4 in the 2022 NHL Draft. His 19 goals and 25 assists in 2024-25 made many believe he was on the path toward stardom, but in a more defensive system under Lambert, Wright took a step backward in production in 2025-26.
Then came the summer trade request and everything that went with it. When a deal did not come to fruition in the offseason, and Wright showed up at Training Camp looking like he had made improvements to his game, it briefly seemed like his career had gotten back on track, and that he could—after all that—still grow into a keystone in the Kraken organization for many years to come.
But apparently the toothpaste was not put back in the tube, so to speak, and Seattle still saw a need to get this deal done.
“We thank Shane for his contributions to our organization and the city of Seattle, and we wish him all the best in Nashville,” Botterill said.
We will have more analysis and reaction in the coming days, so stay tuned to our various Sound Of Hockey channels.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.