‘Wright’ Time and Place 

Shane Wright’s 17^th goal of the season is tucked into a game highlights video on TheAHL.com, not splashed across YouTube. But Coachella Valley head coach Dan Bylsma won’t be denied when suggesting Wright’s score against a top AHL team, the Texas (Austin) Stars, last Friday is a goal-of-the-year candidate and in any case displays the heightened speed, skills, and promise of the Kraken’s 2022 first-round choice.

“I said immediately it was similar to a goal Owen Tippett [Flyers forward] scored in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago that was potentially labeled goal of the year,” said Bylsma in a conversation this week. “Shane’s goal was awesome. It was a great display of his speed away from the puck, that he can speed up the ice and be in position to take a pass from [fellow prospect Ryan Winterton], then Shane takes the puck off his skates to his stick and shoots on-and-off his tape [in a flash].”

Bylsma said he and his coaching staff are witnessing Wright getting better and stronger and more dangerous in the offensive zone on a game-nightly basis. No one has questioned Wright’s elite abilities as a two-way forward – something all of Canada happily watched and appreciated in the hockey-mad country’s run to a 2023 World Juniors gold medal with Wright as captain.

Like that Ryan Winterton pass, Wright’s scoring and playmaking are developing with pace and payoff. He has 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points in 40 games on the season, but a deeper look shows Wright among the catalysts for the Firebirds over the last two months, notching 10 goals and seven assists in the last 25 games. During that time, CVF posted a 16-5-4 record to zoom up to leading the Western Conference overall and ranking second in the AHL going into weekend action. CVF just swept a two-game set Wednesday and Thursday against division rival Calgary and are now 6-0-1 in their last seven games.  

“Shane is playing with confidence on a consistent basis,” said Bylsma. “That confidence is manifesting itself in his skating, how he carries the puck through the neutral zone, being a puck distributor by using his feet. Also using his speed to drive defensemen back, then pulling up and seeing a play, making that play with speed and ability.”

In a way, Wright’s improvement over the first half of the season, already possessing a strong game, is Exhibit A for the AHL. A year or two or three in the AHL can benefit younger players who get all sorts of time on ice against formidable opponents (many NHL tested) at that level rather than, say, eight to 10 minutes with the NHL club.  

Bylsma, who has played and coached with success at both levels, agrees with the inherent value of the AHL: “It's a great opportunity for him to see quality time and quality opportunity to gain confidence. He is learning and growing his game and you see a great player with great skill getting better.”

Wright’s game-winning goal on Dec. 8 against the Abbotsford Canucks marked the beginning of an impressive run that Bylsma and Wright both attribute to the Firebirds jelling as a team with new players in the form of several Kraken prospects joining and contributing on a roster that includes stalwart scorers Max McCormick and Kole Lind along with a passel of experienced defensemen. Among the new-guy prospects: The aforementioned Winterton (11 goals, seven assists), forwards Logan Morrison (8 G, 21 A) and Jacob Melanson (5 G, 5 A), plus defenseman Ville Ottavainen (5 G, 13 A).

“We had a lot of new players and a lot of guys who haven't really played with each other before in the past,” said Wright, who notched two goals and seven assists in 24 games in Coachella Valley’s Western Conference championship postseason. “We were kind of getting comfortable with the way we want to play in the systems, finding our stride. The last couple of months we have really found out what works.”

At the individual level, Wright said he is working in practice and games on “holding onto pucks, using my legs, and creating space and chances. Transporting pucks has been a big focus for me. I feel I am definitely growing that part of my game.”

Yet Wright doesn’t forget the defensive aspects of his game that drew the interest of another notable two-way forward, Kraken GM Ron Francis.

“I will continue to compete, stay hungry to win pucks back, create chaos, and cause turnovers,” said Wright. “That’s another thing I always work and I’m happy with how that is going so far this year.”

Wright said he is enjoying “being settled with a full team here and having some structure.” Last season, he played games for the Kraken, the gold-medal Team Canada squad under high pressure, two juniors teams, and then joined CVF for a fifth team and revved-up playoff intensity.

Small details matter to Wright, who just turned 20 in early January: “It's nice to have my own place, have my own car. And the stability. This team's awesome. The guys are all great. I’m really fortunate to be in a situation like this.”

To wit: When Wright and Ryan Winterton were called up to the Kraken roster for three games to form two-thirds of a line during a rash of team injuries, his CVF teammates, veterans, and rookies alike, were happy for him. It’s a positive to feel like part of the collective, whether it’s bantering over card games on bus rides or trying to beat teammates with his “long game more than my short game, for sure” on the golf course during off-days,  one of the perks of playing in the southern California desert.

Anyone doubting the value of getting away from the rink or whether walking the course might be taxing compared to a day of streaming on the sofa, consider that basketball legend Michael Jordan played 18 to 36 holes whenever he could during the grind of the NBA regular season and playoffs. Let’s agree that worked out OK.

“It's just a good way to get away from the game of hockey for just a  little bit, take that rest, bit enjoy some healthy competition,” said Wright. “We're all pretty competitive guys.”