Kraken Have Major Ask From Canucks in Shane Wright Trade Talks

Shane Wright and the Seattle Kraken appear to be heading toward a split, and one of the teams reportedly interested in the young center is the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks.

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Their interest makes a lot of sense given his age and the franchise’s timeline, however, according to a recent report from insider Rick Dhaliwal, the asking price might simply be too much for new GM Ryan Johnson to stomach. That ask currently consists of either Zeev Buium or Tom Willander.

Dhaliwal said:

“They gotta look at guys like Shane Wright. The Canucks do like Shane Wright. They’ve approached Seattle about him, but the ask was very high. You know Seattle wants either one of their two young defensemen, Zeev Buium or Tom Willander,”

The 22-year-old Wright has one year remaining on the three-year, $2.66 million entry-level contract he signed with the Kraken after being drafted fourth overall in 2022. Buium, 20, and Willander, 21, are also still on their entry-level contracts, with one and two years of term remaining, respectively.

While the Canucks are desperate to add talent down the middle of the ice, and Wright would provide exactly that, having to move one of their best young defensemen may not be worth the trade-off.

Buium, the centerpiece of the return for Quinn Hughes, and Willander are Vancouver’s two building blocks on the blue line and certainly aren’t players they should even consider trading at this point.

If and when the asking price comes down, that’s when Johnson should re-engage with the Kraken about acquiring Wright, because it’s hard to imagine that won’t happen. Both the team and player want a resolution sooner rather than later, and that could provide the Canucks with the opportunity to be patient and let the right deal eventually come to them.

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