SEATTLE — Could William Nylander become a member of the Seattle Kraken?
In recent days, there's been growing speculation to that effect, with the Toronto Maple Leafs winger seeking a contract extension with an ask the team may not be willing to meet.
The reported cost for the Kraken could be Shane Wright, and Erika Ayala of Locked on Kraken considers whether that price would be too steep for Seattle.
"I don't like the idea of having Shane Wright as part of the packages," Ayala said. "I can tell you 100 percent that I have liked Shane Wright's attitude at development camp, I think he has grown a lot, and I think it's going to be exciting to see how that translates at training camp."
Nylander is a wildly talented winger who's coming off the best season of his career, having recorded 40 goals and 47 assists in 82 games for the Maple Leafs. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and could command a contract with an average annual valuation of $10 million or more.
Wright, on the other hand, is just getting started, and bounced around the NHL, AHL, and OHL last season. At age 19, he's considered one of the top prospects in the game, and Seattle would be giving up a huge part of the future in a deal for Nylander, who just turned 27.
It could be an opportunity to add a star winger in the hopes of advancing further in the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year than they did in 2023, but any package floated by Seattle should not include Wright.
Nylander would be a good add for Seattle, but "my immediate reaction to trading Wright is no, no, no," Ayala concludes.