Kraken and Predators Reportedly Cooking Up a Shane Wright for Matthew Wood Swap

Elliotte Friedman dropping a late-night trade rumor is the NHL equivalent of the Bat-Signal, except this time it is illuminating a swap of two guys desperately trying to find their footing. Friedman reports the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators are actively cooking up a deal centered around Shane Wright and Matthew Wood.

When a guy with Friedman's track record says teams are working on something, you can usually take it to the bank. This is not just idle group-chat chatter. It is two front offices looking at their prospect cupboards and deciding a mutual change of scenery is the only way to salvage the initial hype.

"Hearing Seattle and Nashville working on something that will involve Shane Wright and Matthew Wood."

Let us talk about Wright for a second. The former top prospect has been grinding away in Seattle, but the production just has not matched the pedigree. He has three goals and one assist through 14 games this season, logging about 14 minutes of ice time a night. Last year, he managed 27 points in a full 82-game slate. That is not exactly the kind of stat line that strikes fear into the hearts of opposing goaltenders.

On the other side, you have Matthew Wood, a big-bodied winger trying to carve out a permanent role in a Nashville organization that just squeaked out a 5-4 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Seattle, meanwhile, is coming off a brutal 6-2 shellacking by the Calgary Flames. Both teams are clearly looking in the mirror and realizing their current mix needs a shakeup.

For anyone looking at the futures market, a prospect swap like this rarely tilts the Stanley Cup odds overnight. But it does signal that both general managers are willing to pull the plug on their own draft darlings if the fit is not right. It is the ultimate "I can fix him" trade for both sides.

We will see if this actually crosses the finish line before Nashville hosts the Carolina Hurricanes later this week. Until then, keep your notifications on, because when Friedman starts hearing things, the paperwork is usually already in the fax machine.