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We just traded a player on the time with big time name recognition and of course most outlets can't get is right in announcements.
He's not the biggest name on the Kraken, but his name has the most social media engagement driving. Takes on him is practically an industry, and it will be interesting if he does better after a change of scenery.
The short version of the situation is that he was the projected first overall for his draft class since he was 15 and he... never popped off. He wound up falling at the draft and Seattle snagged him at #4, and we did make the right choice because it was a very weak draft class, because of Covid. Shane couldn't skate for over 500 days due to shut downs in NA, while overseas players, and Canadian prospects whose families moved to avoid the shutdowns, kept training. He lost a CHONK of key development time in his teens and we don't have any point of comparison to know what that really meant for him.
Was him being stuck as a bottom 6 guy due to that, Kraken failing to develop him properly or maybe you just can't judge a player's career by how they dominate at 15? Sadly, any serious discussion of him runs right into Covid lockdown discourse and... yech. I am glad Canada put kids surviving over developing the best possible future pros. Saying that lockdown is probably at least partially why his career went the way it did, acknowledging that lockdowns had effects, is not being anti-lockdown... but you can guess how well online chatter handles any nuance.
I am resistant to the idea that we 'fumbled our Celebrini' partially because most of our other draft players are beating their projections, some by a lot. Take him out of the equation and our player dev stats look amazing, but everyone judges Seattle by *just* Shane Wright like he's all there is to the team's story.
But it is interesting that, when the draft works as intended, that the best players wind up on the most dumpster fire teams. A lot of people think the only reason Shane isn't on par with Celebrini and McKenna is us fumbling his development, and while him being in a brand new franchise probably wasn't the best fit for him, McKenna's contributions to the Leafs are already clear. He's elevating that team. Leafs can also leverage that people *want* to play on McKenna's team. Most of Shane's NHL ice time was sheltered minutes.
Shane 'falling' in the draft to Seattle, which no one saw coming, was huge. Shane had to wade through people who'd pre-bought custom Habs jerseys with his name on it on the way into the draft, all wanting his signature. People were sure he was going first overall, and he'd be the future star of the Habs, the next Crosby. Them drafting an overseas player who didn't have to deal with shutdowns was shocking, people were pissed.
Anyway, some of the Kraken fans I follow, and some I've met, watched the Kraken practice this morning, and it was Shane's last time in a Kraken jersey. They didn't know, but the trade was going down, and they left to see the news. Lots of sad fans today.
I'm okay with it, partially because I joined the fandom later. I like Shane, but I am not attached to him. He requested a trade, partially because everything has been tried to get him to pop off outside of a change of scenery. He was dedicated to the team while he was still here, and he's gone to a team in a good market. I was worried we'd send him to the Wings who have a completely dysfunctional FO right now, or to some other team dealing with serious problems. Hope he enjoys Nashville.
He's not the biggest name on the Kraken, but his name has the most social media engagement driving. Takes on him is practically an industry, and it will be interesting if he does better after a change of scenery.
The short version of the situation is that he was the projected first overall for his draft class since he was 15 and he... never popped off. He wound up falling at the draft and Seattle snagged him at #4, and we did make the right choice because it was a very weak draft class, because of Covid. Shane couldn't skate for over 500 days due to shut downs in NA, while overseas players, and Canadian prospects whose families moved to avoid the shutdowns, kept training. He lost a CHONK of key development time in his teens and we don't have any point of comparison to know what that really meant for him.
Was him being stuck as a bottom 6 guy due to that, Kraken failing to develop him properly or maybe you just can't judge a player's career by how they dominate at 15? Sadly, any serious discussion of him runs right into Covid lockdown discourse and... yech. I am glad Canada put kids surviving over developing the best possible future pros. Saying that lockdown is probably at least partially why his career went the way it did, acknowledging that lockdowns had effects, is not being anti-lockdown... but you can guess how well online chatter handles any nuance.
I am resistant to the idea that we 'fumbled our Celebrini' partially because most of our other draft players are beating their projections, some by a lot. Take him out of the equation and our player dev stats look amazing, but everyone judges Seattle by *just* Shane Wright like he's all there is to the team's story.
But it is interesting that, when the draft works as intended, that the best players wind up on the most dumpster fire teams. A lot of people think the only reason Shane isn't on par with Celebrini and McKenna is us fumbling his development, and while him being in a brand new franchise probably wasn't the best fit for him, McKenna's contributions to the Leafs are already clear. He's elevating that team. Leafs can also leverage that people *want* to play on McKenna's team. Most of Shane's NHL ice time was sheltered minutes.
Shane 'falling' in the draft to Seattle, which no one saw coming, was huge. Shane had to wade through people who'd pre-bought custom Habs jerseys with his name on it on the way into the draft, all wanting his signature. People were sure he was going first overall, and he'd be the future star of the Habs, the next Crosby. Them drafting an overseas player who didn't have to deal with shutdowns was shocking, people were pissed.
Anyway, some of the Kraken fans I follow, and some I've met, watched the Kraken practice this morning, and it was Shane's last time in a Kraken jersey. They didn't know, but the trade was going down, and they left to see the news. Lots of sad fans today.
I'm okay with it, partially because I joined the fandom later. I like Shane, but I am not attached to him. He requested a trade, partially because everything has been tried to get him to pop off outside of a change of scenery. He was dedicated to the team while he was still here, and he's gone to a team in a good market. I was worried we'd send him to the Wings who have a completely dysfunctional FO right now, or to some other team dealing with serious problems. Hope he enjoys Nashville.
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Date: 2026-11-02 01:21 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2026-11-02 02:28 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2026-11-02 04:11 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2026-11-02 07:55 am (UTC)From:The discourse is very weird. I'd already seen some Nashville fans run into it and get very confused.