Shane Wright to the Canadiens. That's the mock trade William Leblanc floated Wednesday afternoon, and the price is two young Swedes from Montreal's roster.
The proposal sends forward Oliver Kapanen and defenseman Adam Engstrom to Seattle. Nothing has been reported beyond the idea itself, so file it under trade-board chatter for now.
The timing makes sense from a Montreal lens. Nick Suzuki is out with an upper-body injury and expected to miss time until at least November 18.
And the Canadiens are winning anyway. They blanked the Blues 2-0 in St. Louis last night for a third straight win.
Wright brings something Montreal's bottom six hasn't found yet. He has 3 goals over his last 10 games in Seattle.
Compare that to Kirby Dach, still hunting for his first goal through 12 games. Alex Newhook has one goal and a -4 rating.
Is that enough to justify the cost? On paper, the cost barely registers.
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Kent Hughes holds the leverage as the Kraken leak goals
Kapanen has dressed for 5 games and hasn't recorded a point. He played 15:56 in St. Louis last night with one shot on goal and a minor penalty.
Engstrom's line is just as quiet. No points through 6 games, though he's a +2 and logged 10:23 on the blue line Tuesday.
So Montreal would move two players who aren't driving offense for a 22-year-old carrying an $886,666 cap hit. That's a cheap swing for a club sitting seventh overall.
If Jason Botterill takes this deal, he's selling low. Badly.
Trading Wright for this package feels like swapping a used car that needs a tune-up for two bikes still in the box. Nobody's commuting on those this winter.
Seattle's real problems sit on the other end of the ice. The Kraken allow 3.5 goals per game, and Joey Daccord carries an .882 save percentage.
Two Swedish depth pieces don't fix that. Engstrom adds a body to a blue line missing Ryan Lindgren until at least November 19, but he's no shutdown answer.
Lane Lambert's group hosts the Maple Leafs tonight after getting hammered 5-1 by Minnesota on Saturday.
Montreal heads to Dallas on Thursday. The two clubs don't meet until February 3 in Seattle.
That leaves plenty of runway for this idea to catch fire or fade quietly.
The catch? Wright has one goal and a -2 rating over his last 5. If that dip keeps going, Seattle's asking price could drop before Kent Hughes has to blink.
Should the Kraken trade Shane Wright for Oliver Kapanen and Adam Engstrom?
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