What's new Seattle Kraken coach's insight on Shane Wright?

If anything jumps out about new Seattle Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma, it’s where he’s coming from.

After whirlwind stretch, new Kraken coach Bylsma settles in

Bylsma spent the past two seasons coaching the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, and he had impressive success with the group of Kraken prospects, leading the Firebirds to back-to-back AHL Western Conference championships and trips to the Calder Cup Finals.

Perhaps the most talented player on those teams was Shane Wright, a center who the Kraken picked No. 4 overall in the 2022 NHL Draft and is seen as a key piece of Seattle’s future. Naturally, Bylsma has a unique insight on Wright due to the experience he has already having coached him before being promoted to the organization’s top job.

Bylsma shared that insight when he joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Thursday, and he made sure to point out that while Wright came to the Kraken with high expectations, he was still only 18 years old when he made his NHL debut in October 2022.

“I think it gets lost a little bit, we’re drafting 18 year old kids, young men,” Bylsma told Michael Bumpus and guest host Curtis Rogers, “and there’s a lot of development and a lot of process that has to go through for the player to get to be where he’s at his best. I think the first year (for Wright) we saw a lot of signs of that. The expectations of the draft and going forth, and then coming to camp, you got to remember he (was) just 18 years old. You’ve got to look back to when you were 18 years old and see where you were at at that time, both physically and mentally.”

Bumpus, a former NFL wide receiver, could relate to Bylsma’s point.

“I thought about me at 18 and I laughed at myself, thinking if I were 18 trying to play in the NFL in that locker room, I would not last,” Bumpus replied. “How do they do it in hockey?”

Bylsma, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup title in 2009 and played nine seasons in the NHL, mentioned that leadership not just during Wright’s stints in Seattle but also at Coachella Valley have been important.

“Well, I think that’s the the great thing about hockey – even though we’re doing it at 18 years old, you usually have a bunch of seasoned veterans to show you the way, to lead the way, and we certainly have that in Seattle,” Bylsma said. “But … it’s just a difficult thing to do. I was drafted too but certainly wasn’t at the level of Shane Wright, and to step into an NHL locker room when you’re 18 years old and all the eyes on you, all the expectations on you, it’s a difficult thing. I think the good thing for Shane is he just got a chance to turn pro, be a pro every day, work at being a pro. He got to do it under some great leadership we had in Coachella with Max McCormick, Andrew Poturalski (leading) the way in helping Shane realize what it what it takes to be a pro.”

So what stood out about Wright, who is now 20, to Bylsma with the Firebirds?

“The good thing the last year, I’ve just got to see Shane come to work every day and put in the time, put in the effort, and you can just continually see the growth in him as a person and him as a player,” he said. “I think you guys got to see a little bit of it when he came up (to rejoin the Kraken this April) in those six games and scored some goals. I thought that was great for him to see the maturation process in his game throughout the whole year and get some results when he came up and played.”

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with new Seattle Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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• 2024 NHL Draft Recap: Every pick the Seattle Kraken made
• Morosi: Why Bylsma is ‘best possible’ coach for Seattle Kraken

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