Wright Traded to OHL Windsor

As widely expected, Kraken prospect Shane Wright has been traded from his long-time Ontario Hockey League Kingston Frontenacs juniors club to the OHL Windsor Spitfires. The trade moves Wright to a Spitfires squad that is second overall in the OHL Western Conference with a 23-9-3-1 record while Kingston is sixth in the league's Eastern Conference with a 17-17-1-1 mark.
The concept is Wright will join a team poised for a longer playoff run and the potential to win the OHL championship and play for the 2023 Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup is the championship of major junior hockey, bringing together the winners of the Canadian Hockey League's three leagues, the OHL, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. There is a designated host to make it a four-team tournament with this year being the WHL Kamloops, BC, Blazers.

Not surprisingly, Kingston received a major haul in exchange for the Kraken's Wright, drafted No. 4 overall in last July's NHL Draft and fresh from captaining Canada's gold-medal winning team at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. Kingston's package back: Forward Ethan Miedema, defenseman Gavin McCarthy, and seven draft picks for the annual OHL Bantam Draft including a second pick in 2023, a third-rounder in 2023, fourth-round picks in 2024 and 2025 a conditional sixth-round pick in 2024, and two conditional picks (a fifth-rounder in 2024 and a sixth-rounder in 2025). Windsor also received a 2025 conditional 14th-round pick.
Wright played two seasons with Kingston in 2019-20 and 2021-22. In 121 OHL games, Wright has notched 71 goals and 89 assists for 160 total points. He and all OHL players missed the 2020-21 season when the league shut down the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wright appeared in eight games for the Kraken, scoring his first NHL goal in a Dec. 6 home game against Montreal, then was loaned to Team Canada the next day. He impressed his Seattle teammates and coaches with his poise, toughness on the ice, and willingness to learn all details of the sport required at the NHL level.
In late November, the Kraken loaned Wright to AHL affiliate Coachella Valley on a conditioning assignment. The NHL allows teams team to send a player who has missed five consecutive games to the AHL for up to five games or a maximum of two weeks. Wright flourished with the AHL Firebirds, notching four goals in five games and getting top-line shifts during 5-on-5 and the power play.
Windsor made their move ahead of the OHL's Tuesday trade deadline. The franchise clearly timed it well, adding Wright with three big games this week. Windsor's next game is Thursday at home against the Saginaw Spirit, who are third in the Western Conference. The two teams play again on Saturday in Saginaw before Wright and his Windsor teammates travel to face off against the Western Conference-leading London (ON) Knights on Sunday.