It has been quite the rocky four years for Shane Wright. Midway through 2022, he seemed to be the runaway favorite to be picked first overall by the Montreal Canadiens. The former Kingston Frontenacs forward recorded 94 points during the 2021-22 OHL season, which saw the team win 41 of their 68 regular-season games while advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
But even with his successful 2021-22 campaign in mind, he was not taken first overall. That honor went to Juraj Slafkovsky. Simon Nemec went next, with the New Jersey Devils taking him with the second overall pick. Then Logan Cooley, who went to the Arizona Coyotes.
Wright was taken with the fourth overall pick by the Seattle Kraken.
Some cited the pandemic. Others cited his interviews with NHL clubs. Others thought that his value wasn't as strong as the point total that gave him the opportunity to be taken in the top-five.
It only deteriorated from there. Wright was traded from the Frontenacs to the Windsor Spitfires, and he spent the majority of the next few years splitting time between the OHL, the Kraken's AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley, and the NHL. Wright only played 16 games during the first two years of his career, though he would score seven points during that span of contests.
After an additional 167 games with the Kraken, which saw Wright record a total of 75 points, the team opted to trade him to the Nashville Predators for Matthew Wood, who only just played his first full NHL season. During the 2025-26 NHL season, he scored 17 goals while adding 13 assists in 71 games played. He has three points in 14 games to start the season.
Why the Isaac Howard situation is strikingly similar to Wright's
While Isaac Howard never reached the draft heights that Wright semi-maintained, his current situation with the Edmonton Oilers is somewhat comparable, if not worse.
Whereas Wright spent two seasons waiting for a full-time opportunity with the Kraken, Howard only just got a sizable portion of playing time with the team after contesting three campaigns in the NCAA. But even after getting to the full-time rotation, Howard was only able to record five points in 29 games. To start what some had projected as a quasi-breakout year, Howard has three points in 14 games, which is the second-lowest total of any Oiler that has played at least 10 of the team's opening 15 games.
But while Wright's departure can be partially attributed to a desire for a new opportunity, it also came as a result of an inability for the former first-round pick to find his form with the Kraken and be a leader for a team that lacks much of a focal point when it comes to star talent.
With that in mind, Howard has not yet found a way to make an impression for an Oilers team that has four superstars on its roster right now.
In Seattle, Wright's struggles to make an overall impression were only compounded by the arrival of Bobby McMann via trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mackie Samoskevich, who was also acquired in a trade. Both forwards are regarded as legitimate middle-six/depth options; I am aware that Seattle's forward lineup is essentially a group of middle-six players but hey, one can't control who they get drafted to, only how they respond to their roster situations.
Unfortunately, that has been the issue for Wright. And it is exactly what Howard is going through right now.
So does Edmonton trade him?
Obviously, trading one of your top future prospects after just a few years is never a good look. But if the chance of said prospect establishing a long-term future with a given NHL franchise is rather slim, then there's not much of a point in keeping them on the roster.
I don't think Howard is at the point where a trade needs to be considered, and the fact that he is out with an injury serves to delay any such speculation for the time being. That said, it is fair to wonder if his time in Edmonton is running out.
Wright ultimately could not adjust to being a major focal point in Seattle's system, and it seems that Howard is heading down the same path. Though there is still an opportunity for the latter to turn it around, the Oilers' front office needs to keep Wright's struggles in Seattle in mind and to be ready to move on should the need to do so present itself.
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