Shane Wright finally opens up about Kraken’s controversial plans for him

Everyone’s being talking about Shane Wright.

Except for Shane Wright.

Finally the Seattle Kraken rookie forward opened up about what the team has in store for him in an interview with Michael Russo and Jake Smith of The Athletic.

Wright has heard all of the criticism about his little ice time when he plays. Last night, he was back in the Kraken’s lineup after missing six consecutive games as a healthy scratch. He finally got to collect more ice time, playing close to 14 minutes last night. He did not record a point in a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Wild.

That same night, Darren Dreger confirmed on Insider Trading on TSN that the Kraken is likely to keep Wright in the NHL, despite the belief that he would develop much better by being sent down back to the OHL, where he can be the star he is.

Wright opened up and admitted he is down the Kraken’s development plans.

“Obviously I want to be here long-term,” he said. “It’s definitely the only goal and where I want to be, and I think that I can be here. I think I can improve, prove to the coaches, prove to my teammates, that I belong here.

“This is where I want to be. This is where I believe I can be. So I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I stay here.”

The young forward agrees with the fans - he would prefer to play, and to play more. But there is a maturity to his statement.

“Of course it’s frustrating, not playing,” Wright said. “Obviously you want to be in the lineup every night. You want to be that guy, relied on by the coaches. Obviously I’m 18 years old still. Still got a lot of room to grow. Still got lots of things to learn. Talking to other guys around the room, almost every single guy’s gone through this, as well. They’ve all talked to me about their experiences going through the same thing.

“For me, it’s always about: Do what I can to learn. Do what I can to grow … Just doing whatever I can to stay prepared, stay ready, for whenever my time may come here.”

On Thursday, Wright put up a career-high ice time which pushed his average ice time to just 8:00 per game.

We want more, he wants more, but he trusts the Kraken.

Maybe with his comments, fans will do the same…