Shane Wright's preferred trade destination could cost the Vancouver Canucks a real piece of their young defense.
A new report says Seattle's asking price for Wright could include a premium young defenseman, floating both Zeev Buium and Tom Willander as options.
Wright, the fourth overall pick in 2022, put up 27 points in 74 games this season, still chasing a real offensive breakout with the Kraken.
Buium, already a Canuck, posted 26 points in 76 games as a rookie, though he finished at a rough minus-33 in a tough first year.
Willander added 21 points in 70 games this season, also finishing at a minus-23, numbers that suggest he's still very much a work in progress too.
The report frames this as a real fork in the road, and it's already splitting opinion hard among Canucks fans online.
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Should Vancouver protect Buium or trade him for Wright
Vancouver finished 25-49-8 for just 58 points this season, dead last overall, exactly the kind of season that makes trading young pieces for immediate scoring tempting.
Wright carries just an $886,667 cap hit, cheap enough that adding him wouldn't strain the books even after giving up a cost-controlled defenseman.
Seattle finished 34-37-11 for 79 points this season, 27th overall, a disappointing year that gives Vancouver some real leverage in these talks.
Giving up Buium feels like the bigger mistake here. He's younger, cheaper, and still finding his game, while Willander profiles as the safer piece to include instead.
Both defensemen struggled defensively this season, but that's normal for players this age adjusting to full NHL minutes for the first time.
New coach Manny Malhotra will have real say in this decision too, since either player figures into his blue line plans for next season.
Nothing is finalized. But if Seattle really wants a defenseman back, which one Vancouver is willing to give up says a lot about who they value more long term.
Should the Canucks give up Zeev Buium to land Shane Wright?
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