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Bruins Should Consider Shane Wright Trade Opportunity

Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright celebrates a goal with goalie Joey Daccord. (Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images)

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Bruins Should Consider Shane Wright Trade Opportunity

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Brandon Share-Cohen | Last updated Jul 10, 2026 11:25 AM ET

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The Boston Bruins are in need of high-end talent to help elevate the existing roster into legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. The problem is that acquiring these types of players often requires giving up premium talent in return. For this reason, it’s possible the Bruins could seek another avenue this offseason to try and further address one of their biggest needs: a top-six center to play with David Pastrnak. Buying low on a former blue-chip prospect could be something the Bruins look at this offseason. Enter Shane Wright.

Wright, the fourth-overall pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, was highly touted as a prospect from an early age, becoming one of just nine players ever granted exceptional status in the CHL. Things haven’t quite panned out for him as many would have expected, though, and after a 19-goal, 44-point rookie season in 2024-25, Wright would take a step back with just 12 goals and 27 points in 74 games last season.

For a team looking to identify long-term top-end center options, the Bruins could do much worse than bringing in a player like Wright, especially if his value is lower now than it would have been otherwise. There may be an issue with this though, as Elliotte Friedman noted that Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill “made it extremely clear they expect a fair price and won’t be pressured into anything they don’t want to do.”

On the surface, this means that the Kraken will not be moving Wright for pennies on the dollar. It makes sense considering Wright is still only 22 and has a lot of untapped upside as a two-way center that many teams would love to explore. There have undoubtedly been plenty of calls about the 22-year-old, especially with teams knowing that the Kraken have less leverage now than they would have had he not requested a trade or taken a step back last season.

A lot of interest in a player may theoretically drive the price up, but it doesn’t necessarily mean teams are offering the farm to acquire a player who hasn’t fully lived up to expectations yet. Wright has the potential to be very good, but if teams are only interested because he could be a relatively cheap acquisition, then the Kraken’s bargaining power isn’t necessarily as strong as it may appear.

Why Wright Fits for the Bruins

For the Bruins, Wright represents a player who could step in and immediately be given a better opportunity than he’s had in Seattle. If Wright is playing alongside Pastrnak and JJ Peterka on the Bruins top line, he’ll almost certainly find more success than he has thus far while playing with lesser talent on the Kraken.

Wright would join a group of young centers in Boston who all could be top-six talent but who still need to prove themselves in the near future. The Bruins already have James Hagens and Fraser Minten on the NHL roster and Dean Letourneau in the pipeline, all of whom could be top-six centers for the team in the future. For now, though, acquiring a player like Wright could be a move that gives them another lottery ticket in an attempt to find their guy.

It’s unclear exactly what a trade for Wright would look like, but the Kraken will almost certainly be looking for young players and assets in return. This could include some of their most likely trade chips, including a player like Mason Lohrei, a prospect like Matt Poitras who has also shown NHL-level promise in the past, a number of draft picks or a combination of the three to get the job done.

The Bruins shouldn’t be mortgaging their future to acquire Wright, but if the price is right, he could be a valuable piece for them moving forward.

This article first appeared on The Hockey Writers and was syndicated with permission.

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