Seattle Kraken top prospect Shane Wright, veteran of eight NHL games and five more in the American League, returned from injury on Thursday night to play with his Windsor Spitfires of the major junior Ontario Hockey League.
Wright tallied a goal and two assists in the Spitfires 7-4 victory over the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) Greyhounds.
He’s averaged two points a game, 14 in 7, since being sent back to major junior hockey by the Kraken following the end of his participation in the World Junior Championship. Wright captained Team Canada to Gold in a tournament that ended on January 5th, his 19th birthday.
Injured in North Bay against the Battalion on January 26th, Wright was originally expected to be out indefinitely. He recovered quickly, popping back into the line-up after missing just two games.
Prospects for the Kraken Prospect
The Spitfires own the third best winning percentage in the entire OHL and sit on top of the West Division with 64 points, ten ahead of the second place Sarnia Sting.
Wright, the former Kingston Frontenac for two seasons, was traded to the OHL Championship contending Spitfires following the WJC Gold. It’s a tradition in major junior hockey for teams considered contenders to load up on talent ahead of the playoffs, with hopes of winning the league title and then the Memorial Cup, the tournament featuring the three league champions from major juniors in a round robin with a host club.
Kamloops, British Columbia, the Blazers of the Western Hockey League, host this spring.
Wright is one of just a handful of players in history to receive “exceptional status”, as in permission to play in the OHL as a 15-year-old, a year earlier than typically allowed.
After his two huge seasons in Kingston, Wright was considered a strong favorite to go 1st-overall to the Montreal Canadiens at the 2022 NHL Draft. They didn’t pick him. Instead, the Seattle Kraken happily took him at 4th-overall.
