Playing in world juniors makes so much sense for Wright
Too good for another year of major junior. Not quite ready to be taking a regular shift in the NHL.
Shane Wright, the fourth-overall pick in this year’s draft, is heading to the minors for a five-game conditioning stint. Where he goes from there has yet to be decided. But after being a healthy scratch for 11 of the Seattle Kraken’s 18 games this season, Team Canada’s general manager is crossing his fingers that the 18-yearold prospect will get lent to the team for the upcoming world junior championship.
“I like following the transactions page,” James Boyd said in a phone interview on Monday. “But they haven’t tipped their hand in what they’re doing.”
That’s true, but that hasn’t stopped many hockey observers from reading between the lines.
Wright’s five-game conditioning stint, which cannot last more than 14 days, ends Dec. 5. A day later, the Kraken play the Montreal Canadiens, who passed on selecting Wright with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
While it would be sweet revenge for Wright to play against the team that snubbed him, it’s more likely that his next stop will be in Moncton, N.B., where Canada is holding its training camp from Dec. 9 to 12, rather than Montreal.
From there, it’s off to Halifax for the two-week tournament, which begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 5.
If all goes according to plan, Wright will then return to Seattle with a gold medal around his neck and plenty of confidence and, er, conditioning under his belt. That is, unless Jared Mccann gets injured again.
“We try not to get too excited,” said Boyd.
“The last time Shane was sitting out a couple of games and we thought there might be a conditioning stint, there ended up being an injury and he was inserted back into the lineup. So we all know how things can change.”
This time, however, seems a little different.
When Wright was being considered for a conditioning stint earlier in the month, he had gone just four games without playing.
After Mccann got injured, Wright suited up and played in two games. But since then, the Burlington, Ont., native sat out another five games.
The last time Wright was in the lineup was Nov. 5. Even when he has been in the lineup, he hasn’t necessarily been on the ice much, averaging a little more than eight minutes per game for a Kraken team that is in third place in the Pacific Division.
As a result, he has no goals and one assist in seven games.
For a player who was granted exceptional status to allow him to play in the OHL as a 15-year-old — something only Connor Mcdavid and John Tavares had previously done as forwards — it’s not the kind of development path you would want for someone who was once considered the top prospect in the 2022 draft.
After all, No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky has three goals and four points in 13 games for the Canadiens. Everyone else is either back in junior, college or playing in Europe.
That’s why playing in the world juniors makes so much sense for Wright. Not only would he get into meaningful games and get a chance to show off his skills and dominate against similar competition; Wright, who played in two games for Canada in December before the tournament was postponed to August, where he passed on playing because it was so close to NHL training camps, would also get a chance to attend to some unfinished business.
“I’m obviously a big fan of the world juniors and what it can do for a player’s confidence and that kind of thing,” said Boyd. “In the event that a player returns from the NHL, of course we’re going to take them.”
It’s not just Wright that Canada is keeping any eye at the NHL level. The team is also keeping spots available for Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston, Los Angeles’ Brandt Clarke and Arizona’s Dylan Guenther, who may also get lent out for the tournament.
“For sure, when we have dialogue on the composition of our team, we prepare for everything,” said Boyd.
“In the event that a player returns from the NHL, of course we’re going to take them. We have discussions all along about what the roster will look like if that was the case. You hope that 100 per cent of the players are available to us, but you know that’s not the case. But we have a good idea of what our team will look like with ‘Player X’ inserted.
“We know Shane well. We know Wyatt Johnston well. We know Brandt Clarke well and Dylan Guenther. They all have experience in the Program of Excellence, so we don’t have to dig too deep into how they’re being utilized at the pro level.”
Whether or not they get Wright and other Nhlers, the Canadians are once again expected to be the favourites in a tournament they won in August, especially with 2023 top prospects Connor Bedard (Regina Pats) and Adam Fantilli (University of Michigan) off to incredible starts this year.
“He continues to impress, that’s for sure,” Boyd said of North Vancouver’s Bedard, who scored four goals and eight points in seven games at this year’s tournament and already has 48 points in 22 games this season for the Pats.
“He was scoring highlight-reel goals in August at the world juniors too, so it’s an exciting year for Connor.”
Fantilli, from Nobleton, Ont., has nine goals and 23 points in 12 games as a 17-year-old freshman.
“He’s off to a great start,” said Boyd.
“I know that he’s one of the top freshmen in college hockey in along time. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s skilled.
“There’s just another player who continues to get better.”