Shane Wright's name keeps surfacing around the New York Rangers, and their thin center depth is exactly why this makes sense to explore.
GM Chris Drury has largely finished his retool plan this summer, but there's still time before camp to add one more young forward if the right deal presents itself.
Seattle is reportedly willing to work with Wright toward a new home, making a former No. 4 overall pick available before he's even hit his prime.
Wright requested a trade from the Kraken earlier this offseason after his production actually dropped, falling to 12 goals and 27 points in 74 games following a 44 point rookie season.
That decline matters, but so does the fact that 22-year-old centers picked this high almost never hit the trade market. New York traded away Vincent Trocheck this summer, leaving the roster thin down the middle behind Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller.
Braden Schneider looks like New York's most logical trade chip here. He played all 82 games last season, posting 2 goals and 16 assists for 18 points while leading the team in blocked shots.
Schneider or Morrow could be the price for Wright
Schneider recently agreed to a one year deal worth $5,500,000 after filing for arbitration, and with Adam Fox and Sean Durzi already ahead of him on the right side, New York doesn't sound fully committed to him long term.
A straight swap would actually create real cap breathing room for Drury given New York's tight $2,400,000 in current space.
Scott Morrow could be the other realistic trade piece. He's blocked on the right side in New York too, managing just 6 points in 29 games last season, and would likely land a real third-pair role and power play minutes in Seattle instead.
New York would probably need to attach something extra to a Morrow package, since the Rangers don't exactly have a center of their own to offer Seattle in return.
If Wright actually arrives, New York's projected third line of Will Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Tye Kartye gets reshuffled fast.
Wright could slot between Cuylle and his former Kraken teammate Kartye, pushing Laba down to the fourth line center spot and making Joe Veleno the 13th forward.
That would let Wright develop behind Zibanejad and Miller, while giving coach Mike Sullivan the option to bump him into the top six occasionally and shift Miller to the wing, the same trick New York used with Trocheck available.
Wright's underlying numbers are the real reason for optimism here. Seattle controlled 53 percent of expected goals and 55.6 percent of actual goals with him on the ice, a real jump from the year before.
That gap between his raw production and his underlying results suggests there's more value in his game than a 27 point season lets on.
He'd also give New York another option on the second power play unit, potentially running alongside Durzi, Cuylle, Gabe Perreault, and fellow former Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand.
There's real risk in betting on a center whose draft stock already fell once. But at the right price, built around Schneider or Morrow, this is exactly the kind of swing New York should be seriously exploring before camp opens.
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Should the Rangers trade Braden Schneider or Scott Morrow to acquire Shane Wright?
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