Shane Wright has Sheldon Keefe staring at a second center swing that makes too much sense to ignore.
The reason this rumor has legs is simple. New Jersey still needs more support down the middle, and Wright is the kind of young bet that fits a team trying to stay competitive without blowing open its cap structure.
Wright is only 22, and the raw numbers still leave room for a team to dream. He played 74 games for Seattle last season and finished with 12 goals, 15 assists, and 27 points.
That line does not scream breakout. But it also does not bury him, especially when you remember he put up 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games the year before.
That drop matters for Seattle. The Kraken finished 34-37-11 with 79 points, so this is a club still sorting out which young pieces are real long-term fits and which ones can be moved for help elsewhere.
New Jersey's side is even easier to read. The Devils went 42-37-3 and ended 21st overall, which is not the profile of a team that can sit back and pretend its center depth is settled.
If Barrett Hayton does not end up being the answer, Wright feels like the clean pivot.
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Shane Wright could be headed to a surprising new team : New Jersey Devils
Keefe does not need Wright to walk in as a savior. He would need him to push the middle six, give the Devils another look at center, and maybe grow into more with better usage. That is a fair inference from Wright's age and New Jersey's roster need.
Tom Fitzgerald also has reason to think this way. Wright was the No. 4 pick in 2022, and teams do not give up on that kind of pedigree unless they believe the fit has gone stale.
Seattle may be at that point. The Kraken already have Matty Beniers locked in as a major part of the middle lane, and Wright's role has never looked fully settled. That is an inference from Seattle's development arc and Wright's uneven production.
For New Jersey, the appeal is not that Wright is finished product. It is that he still looks like a player who could rebound hard in a different room with a clearer path.
That is why this Plan B angle works. Big names cost big assets, but Wright sits in that sweet spot where the upside still matters more than the last stat line.
And for the Devils, that kind of move may be the smartest one left. If they miss on the louder center options, Wright is exactly the sort of buy-low swing that can change a roster without tearing it apart.
Source : Shane Wright becomes surprise Plan B for top contender
Should the Devils make Shane Wright their next center target?
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