Kraken likely to keep Wright, may loan F to AHL, WJC

Despite seeing limited playing time so far, Shane Wright is expected to stay with the Seattle Kraken this season, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports.

Dreger notes that Wright, who has appeared in six games with Seattle to date, could also see time in the AHL and may play for Canada at the World Juniors next month.

"It's very likely he's going to stay with the Kraken," Dreger said on Insider Trading. "Now, here's an interesting sidebar to this story because there is a clause inside the agreement between the NHL and the CHL that allows junior-eligible players like Shane Wright to be loaned to the American Hockey League. Now, to qualify, Wright would have to be a healthy scratch in the NHL for five straight games. He can only be loaned once to the AHL and can only stay for a maximum of 14 days.

"So, I believe this is something that the Kraken are considering and they're also looking at loaning him to Canada for the World Juniors."

Selected fourth overall in this year's draft, Wright has one assist in his six games this season while averaging 7:59 of ice time. He saw a season-high 13:49 of ice time in Thursday's win over the Minnesota Wild after logging less than nine minutes in each of his first five games.

The 18-year-old had 32 goals and 94 points in 63 games with the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs last season.  Named to Canada's world juniors team last fall, he did not play in the rescheduled tournament over the summer.