The Kraken just FLEECED the Predators... - HUGE trade

The Nashville Predators just traded the 15th pick from 2023 to Seattle for the 4th pick in 2022. On paper, Nashville wins this one because they just got a top 5 pick for a mid-rounder at a position they needed at the center. But last season, that 15th pick scored 17 goals, the 4th pick scored 12, and he ended up playing about a minute and a half less a night. I think the Seattle Kraken just fleeced the Nashville Predators, and by the end of this video, I'm going to prove it. So here's the deal, a one for one. Shane Wright goes to Nashville and Matthew Wood goes to Seattle. No picks, nothing else involved in this deal. Think about that for a second because Seattle didn't even need to sweeten this deal and Nashville didn't ask for one and that makes it to believe that these teams see this trade as fair value. I don't. Wright is 22 and went fourth overall in 2022. Wood is 21, about a year younger, and went 15th overall in 2023. Both are in the final year of their contracts. Wright makes $887,000 and Wood makes $950,000 and both become restricted free agents in 2027. So the money is the same, the age is almost about the same on these players, the one thing that isn't is their draft spot, and that's one thing that doesn't score goals. So let's take a look at what they actually did last season. Before the numbers from last year, let's take a look at where Matthew Wood comes from, because a score like this doesn't come by accident. In 21-22, he scored 45 goals in 46 games for Victoria Grizzlies in the BCHL. That's 85 points. The next year at the U18 World Championship for Canada, he scored 7 goals in 7 games. Then college, 34 points in 35 games at UConn as a freshman, 28 the next year. Then he transferred to Minnesota and put up 39 points in 39 games. And then the NHL, six games at the end of that Minnesota season, and last year, a full season at 20 years old, 17 goals. A goal scorer who puts up numbers like this everywhere he goes is exactly the type of player a team should be excited to get on a one-for-one trade. That's a scorer at every level, at every age, and Nashville only gave him 12 minutes a game. Quickly, before we get into the rest of this trade video, if you're enjoying the content here, you want to stay up to date on the latest news and out in the NHL, and you want breakdowns just like this, go down below, hit that subscribe button. We're on the road for 20,000 subscribers, and we're so close. Matthew Wood scored 17 goals on 103 shots on goal last season, and Shane Wright scored 12 on 97. Points, Wood had 30 in 71 games, Wright had 27 in 74. Wright played more, and Wood still finished ahead. And Wright got the bigger role, 13:48 a night on the ice against Wood's, 12 minutes, 19 seconds. So just for the minutes, and it's not close, Wood scored 1.17 goals for every 60 minutes he played, Wright scored 0.71. That's about 65% more goals for every minute on the ice from a player who was a year younger and went 11 spots later. The 15th pick outproduced the 4th overall pick on the ice, so let's talk about what kind of player Matthew Wood is. Wood is 6'4", 202 pounds, and he's a right winger who shoots the puck. Last season, he took 103 shots on goal in 71 games. That's 1.45 a game. Wright took 97 in 74, which is 1.31. Scouts saw it back in 2023. Last word on hockey wrote, quote, Wood has a cannon of a shot with incredible power. The flaw was his skating. That same report said, quote, the biggest thing that stands out for Wood is his skating, and it's not a good reason, end quote. And he still scored 17 goals. This season, it hasn't gone in. He has one goal in 14 games, but he's taken 20 shots, and the model says that should be about four goals. He's been unlucky, not bad. Hockey Buzz wrote that Seattle can give him room to become, quote, the premier power forward they have been missing, end quote. That's the role Wood was never going to get in Nashville. Put that shooter on a team that needs a power winger, and he's got room to play. Seattle didn't give up a shooter, they got one for free. Okay, we talked about Matthew Wood, let's get to the other side. What's Nashville getting? Wright is a center, and centers are hard to get than wingers, and that's probably the main argument you can make for this trade not being a steal. So let's be fair and give Nashville its best case. And remember why Seattle moved on. HockeyBuzz said Wright, quote, often battled for consistent top six minutes in a crowded Seattle lineup, end quote. After 183 games, they never found him a steady spot. At the same age, Wright was ahead. In his age 20 season, 24-25, he had 44 points in 79 games. Wood, in his age 20 season, had 30 in 71. He also has the career edge, with 82 points in 183 games, which is about .45 a game. Wood has 34 in 91, which is .37. And Wright is more of a power play guy, 9 power play goals in his career against 5 for Wood. That's a real case, a center who gets you points over the long run, Wright is the safer bet. But safer isn't always the better option, because the lines point in the opposite direction for this trade. His best year was 24-25. He scored 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games, playing 14 minutes and 4 seconds a night. Then last season, he fell to 27 points. That's 17 fewer in 5 fewer games. He's also not winning face-offs, which is a big part of a center's job. Career, he's won 43%. And look at the goals. He has 3 goals and 21 shots this season, 14.3% over his career. It's 17.3%. That's kind of a number that comes down. So here's what I think. Wright's goals come off of hot shooting, whereas Wood's come off of volume. Which one would you bet on? Now this season, both players have played 14 games, and their numbers are almost a carbon copy. Wright has 4 points, Wood has 3. Wright averages 14 minutes, 14 seconds a night, and Wood averages 14 minutes, 3 seconds a night. Wright has 21 shots on goal, and Wood has 20. Same ice, same shots, and one point apart, the only difference is where those shots are coming from. Wood's career shooting percentage is 13.7%. At that rate, 20 shots is about three goals, not one. He'd have the same points as Wright, and nobody would be talking about this trade the way they are. So when you hear Wright is off to a better start, that is shooting luck, not the player. So let's keep score. Last season's goals, Wood. Goals per minute, Wood. Shots on goal a game, go to Wood again. And then the age, obviously Wood. He's a bit younger. And size obviously goes to Wood as well at 6'4". Let's look at Wright's side. Career points per game, power play goals, and he's a center. Those are real, and they count. But look at the direction. Wright went from 44 points to 27, whereas Wood went from six NHL games to getting 30 points and 17 goals. And one more edge for Wood as well, as he's 6'4", 202 pounds, where Wright is 6'1", 192. Size is something you can't teach a 21-year-old. If you're building a team, you pay for where that player is going. And right now, Wood is trending in the upward trajectory, whereas Wright has been trending downward. There's one more piece as well, is the contract. They're both restricted free agents at the end of this season. So we can also have another judge on the winner of this trade later when these contracts obviously come out and when those deals do sign because they're obviously going to have to have some negotiations now going forward. And Seattle has the room of about $17 million in cap space this season, and this trade adds just about $63,000 to the payroll. And next summer, a 22-year-old who just scored 17 goals last season, averaging 12 minutes a night, is obviously going to ask for more than what he's at right now at $950,000. And the Kraken can pay him as well, because they didn't have to spend a pick or a prospect to get this guy into their organization. Now the part that decides it. Trade value. Back in January, TSN's Dreger reported teams say that Jason Botterill, the GM of the Seattle Kraken, is listening on Shane Wright. In July, his agent said the Kraken had agreed to move him this summer to a team that needed a top young center. The expected return was reported as incredibly high, and in September, the talks ended without a deal because no team would meet Seattle's price. And on October 3rd, Elliot Friedman reported the Oilers and the Kraken had been linked to Wright and still no deal. For 10 months, every team in the NHL could have had a shot at Shane Wright, but no deal could be landed. But the Seattle Kraken ended up with a great player here in Matthew Wood. That's the trade value. A lot of teams in the NHL said Shane Wright wasn't worth what they were asking for, but a 6'4", 202-pound right winger who fits right into here, just had 17 goals, is a guy who's going to cost you a little bit more than that, but a guy that's going to be great going forward for your organization. So here's my take. Nashville traded for somebody who obviously was drafted earlier in Shane Wright, but I do think that Seattle got the better player here. He's bigger, he scores more goals, he's on an upward trajectory, and he's also a guy who I think is really going to slot into this team and become a great player. And I really do like this trade for Seattle, to be honest with you guys. I think he's going to be a tremendous addition to the top six for the Kraken. Do you think Shane Wright can prove me wrong in Nashville with top six minutes? Maybe he comes out looking like the better player. But right now, in this instance, I'm really set on Wood. And I'm really set on the Kraken absolutely robbing Nashville. So who do you guys think won this trade? Let me know down below in the comment section. Was it the Kraken? Was it the Nashville Predators? Let me know in the comments. And this has been another episode of NHL Digest. If you're loving the content like this, go down below, hit that subscribe button. As always, I'm your host, Casey. Keep sticks on the ice.