Off to their best start in franchise history, the Kraken on Sunday looked to bolster their offensive ranks by acquiring 6-foot-4, 202-pound power forward Matthew Wood from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Shane Wright.
In a swap of former first round picks, the Kraken obtained centerman and right wing Wood, 21, the No. 15 overall selection from 2023 who had a 17-goal, 30-point rookie campaign last season and has been seeing second line and power play action thus far for the Predators. The native of Lethbridge, Alberta, who grew up in Nanaimo, British Columbia, has a goal and two assists in 14 games this season.
“There's still room to add more strength to his body and to his frame,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said. “But I think he utilizes his reach very well to protect pucks. And more importantly, to get a shot off.
“And we think his hockey sense and his shot are two of the best attributes that he can bring to our team.”
Wood had primarily played as a second and third line center with the Preds this season, scoring once and adding two assists, but Botterill said he’ll likely be used initially at right wing given the Kraken’s forward group makeup.
“I think we will certainly start him on wing and go from there,” Botterill said. “But yeah, you look at last year down the stretch, and then also a lot of times this year he's been able to play both. And just again, having that versatility, having that flexibility, I think is good for our group moving forward.”
Wood was also featured on Nashville’s second power play unit.
The acquisition of Wood helps a Kraken team that’s been looking to get bigger up front, having already signed 6-foot-2 , 217-pound winger Bobby McMann long term this past summer after a trade from Toronto last March. They also are fewer than two seasons since having acquired 6-foot-2, 215-pound wing Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers and recently called up 6-foot-4, 212-pound wing Jani Nyman from AHL Coachella Valley.
Wood’s acquisition also helps a Kraken team looking for more firepower after winger Jared McCann was lost late last month for up to 10 weeks to a lower body injury.
The rookie scored six of his 17 goals last March alone and then another in early April as the Predators battled for a late playoff spot they eventually fell short of.
“I think stepping in as a 20 year old rookie in the National Hockey League, scoring 17 goals, being a two-position player, both center and wing, really impressed us,” Botterill said. “I think you saw it down the stretch last season when, in March and April, he played in some crucial games and played a lot of minutes there and really helped Nashville try to make a push for the playoffs.
“So, he gained a lot of experience in his first year and now he comes to our team and I think he sort of fits into that age category that we're trying to add. And I think he can complement a lot of our younger players and players on our team right now.”
Wright, 21, the No. 4 overall pick by the Kraken from 2022, had shifted from center to right wing in preseason and has three goals and one assist this season’s first 14 games. After scoring 19 goals his first full NHL season in 2024-25, Wright fell to 12 goals last season while his points production dipped from 44 to 27.
The Kraken were able to rather surprisingly draft Wright, long a consensus No. 1 overall pick, when the Montreal Canadiens in 2022 opted to select winger Juraj Slafkovsky instead. New Jersey wanted a defenseman with the No. 2 pick while Arizonan opted for center Logan Cooley, leaving Wright to fall to the Kraken.
Wright was famously ineligible to play in the AHL regular season as an 18-year-old due to minimum age requirement rules – since waived for one first rounder per NHL team – and wound up splitting time that season between the Kraken, Canada’s world juniors squad, major junior hockey and a special loophole AHL conditioning stint and the Calder Cup playoffs.
He was given a special exemption to play in the AHL as a 19-year-old and also spent eight games with the Kraken in 2023-24 ahead of his first full NHL campaign in 2024-25.
As for Wood, he played two seasons at the University of Connecticut, getting drafted in between those, then another for the University of Minnesota, tallying 44 goals and 57 assists in those NCAA campaigns. He then joined the Predators for six games in spring 2025.
During his ensuing 2025-26 rookie season, didn’t wait long to make a splash, scoring his first NHL goal Oct. 30 against Dan Vladar of the Philadelphia Flyers. Just 11 days later, playing the New York Rangers, he became the first Nashville rookie to secure a hat-trick since Blake Geoffrion in 2011.
Botterill said Wood, who becomes a restricted free agent after this season, fits right into the sweet spot of talented young players in their early-to-mid-20s the Kraken have worked to assemble. That group includes Matty Beniers, Kakko, Mackie Samoskevich, Berkly Catton, Ryan Winterton, Ryker Evans and others.
“It's similar to Samoskevich,” Botterill said of a winger acquired via trade from Florida this past summer and who sits second in goals by Kraken players with six. “You know, Samoskevich has shown a an ability to score and had a history of scoring. We view Matthew in sort of the same style.
“It's a different style of player, but he has the same track record of scoring goals, whether it's at junior or in college, and even in the National Hockey League last year. So, you know, finding these players that have that knack around the net, that ability to finish off chances, it's something that we're continuing to look to add to our group.”
