Rookie Shane Wright, who has played just one game for the Seattle Kraken in the past month, will leave the club to compete for the Canadian national junior team in the IIHF World Junior Championship.
The Kraken announced the move on Thursday, two days after Wright rejoined the team from AHL Coachella Valley and scored his first NHL goal against the Montreal Canadiens.
"It's a great opportunity for him," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said of the World Junior Championship. "If you look at the way his first couple of months have gone, he's continued to grow.
"We were really excited about the game that he played the other night. He played well. It was really nice to see him get his first goal. Now this is just another great opportunity for a young player to go play in a key role for Team Canada."
Wright, 18, was selected fourth overall in this year's draft after many earlier projections had him going No. 1. He opened the season with Seattle and had no goals and one assist through his first seven games.
The Kraken then made Wright a healthy scratch for five consecutive games. That allowed the team to send him out on an AHL conditioning assignment instead of returning him to his junior team, the Ontario Hockey League's Kingston Frontenacs.
Wright produced four goals in five games with the AHL's Firebirds as they earned four victories during his stay.
The World Junior Championship is scheduled for Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Moncton and Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Canada the event's reigning champion.
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