Blues were right to avoid this recently traded top draft pick

Yesterday, the Seattle Kraken sent center Shane Wright to the Nashville Predators in exchange for winger Matthew Wood. The trade was one for one.

The player profiles

Shane Wright, a center, was drafted fourth overall in 2022 by the Kraken. He's had a tumultous career in Seattle, largely due to the old rules that wouldn't permit Wright to play in the AHL; he was too good for juniors (as you would expect from a top-five pick), but not good enough to play in the NHL. There was no where for him to develop, so by the time he reached the NHL as a full-time player, the sheen had worn off.

Wood, meanwhile, was the 15th-overall selection of the Predators in 2023. He had an okay rookie season last year, posting 19 goals and 30 points, but the real allure of his profile is his size: Wood is listed at 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds. That's the sort of power forward archetype that teams covet.

Generally, the team that winds up with the best player wins the trade--but in this case, it's difficult to tell who the better player is. Wright plays a more important position, but four years from being drafted and he seems to have plateaued; Wood is a year younger, but best case scenario is a middle-six winger--those types of players are available everywhere. Fresh starts for both.

The Blues were right to keep out

The St. Louis Blues, for what it's worth probably would have had the assets to go after Wright if they had wanted to. Jake Neighbours would've been about equivalent (though he is older than Wood), and Jimmy Snuggerud could've been made available if the Kraken would've sweetened the pot (with, say, Berkly Catton or prospect Jake O'Brien). There's also Dalibor Dvorsky, but his current ability isn't that far off from what Wright's shown, and thus would not make sense from Seattle's perspective.

The juice, as they say, wouldn't have been worth the squeeze.

Neighbours is a key part of the Blues' new leadership core, and Snuggerud's got 30-goal potential--those are valuable players that would not have made sense to give up for a player in need of rehab. On top of that, the Blues are looking pretty set at center: Robert Thomas holds down the top line, of course, but the Mason McTavish experiment seems like a success even if his scoring has tailed off. Despite his flaws, Dvorsky should be a rock solid third-line center for years to come.

Add all of that up, and adding Wright--at the cost of any of the Blues' current young crop of players--made no sense for the Blues. Besides, they have a much more pressing need at a different position.

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