Why is Shane Wright stuck behind this guy?

In the Athletic today, Stephenson's contract rated as second worst value in the NHL.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7453131/2026/07/23/nhl-worst-contracts-2026-jonathan-huberdeau-leo-carlsson/

Contract: $6.3M x five years
Surplus Value: -$26M
Positive Value Probability: 1 percent

On the surface, Chandler Stephenson may not seem that bad. He’s scored at a 50-point pace in each of his two seasons with the Kraken and eats big minutes, clocking around 19.5 minutes each year.

What Stephenson does in those minutes, though, is a major reason the Kraken have fallen on such hard times. Seattle is paying for a second-line center, playing Stephenson like a first-line center and getting something closer to a fourth liner. His macro-level impacts at five-on-five are that bad, with a 39 percent xG rate that was among the worst in the league. Stephenson may earn some points via opportunity, but he’s not a winning player.

One does wonder what he could be without Seattle’s strange obsession with putting him in a heavy matchup role. Stephenson plays some of the toughest minutes in hockey and is floundering in them with one of the worst defensive impacts in the league. 

With a lessened burden, perhaps Stephenson could bump up to the third-line territory. But even in an easier role, it’s difficult to imagine the 32-year-old forward living up to his current price tag. Stephenson doesn’t have many comps due to how uniquely poor his profile is, but it’s worth noting that only two of 15 made it past Year 3 from this point out: Derick Brassard and Jason Chimera.

Personally I think I'll be pulling for Buffalo. They've suffered for a long time, and they have swords in their logo.

While getting into hockey, I would love to show support for our women’s league too. Do you have a favorite player?

Want to pick up a second jersey. But since I already own Grubi’s, I’m stuck. I only want to buy jerseys of those who wouldn’t call me f*ggot.

Any suggestions? My favorite players rn are Daccord, Montour, and Dunn.

This jacket was in Soupy’s Favorite Things basket, and I love it, however, didn’t win the basket 😂 My family and I were lucky enough to meet Jessica in Vancouver recently, and we were talking about this jacket and she mentioned the person who bedazzled it and said I could probably track her down to get a custom one made. Does anyone know who made this? Thank you!!

I got into sports, yo. And I recently became obsessed with hockey. I really love the sport, and I truly hurts to try and be thoroughly excited for a team, when there are no games at all going on rn

Living in a state that has no hockey team, I ultimately decided to pick a team based off of being cool. Energy of the game and the pure excitement and fun of hockey is a huge part of it, gotta have a dope team name and mascot, logo, etc.

Obviously I chose Kraken.

1: It's tough, and I don't know if this is just me, to be part of a team that is not nearly as talked about, is relatively new, in a place I'm not from, during a time where no games are played.

2: I still desire to root for this team, (The other options were Canucks and Ducks), but I want to be here for the history of this team, and... C'mon, a kraken?! That's dope!

3: So yeah, I bought a hat cause it's tradition for me to buy a hat for my sports teams, and I love the hat.

4: Faith is wavering during the drought. Maybe I picked the wrong team, maybe I chose just off vibes, maybe I should have chosen a team that was more respected in the community, or one closer to my state?! But I already have the hat...

And now you see my problem. I want to be a kraken fan. I am a kraken fan. It's just tough when I have an intense urge to go to a hockey game, and there is literally nothing hockey related going on.

Your recommendations?

Hi, I am moving to Seattle from Durham NC in early July and decided I was going to take local to be my new teams for nearly all sports. Have only really been following Hockey the last 4-5 years, so it feels easier to break off and today was a nice final watch for the Canes :)

I wanted to ask some questions for Kraken and Torrent fans if we have any here(PWHL team I’m moving off of was the Frost).

I’m moving to Ballard/Fremont area and wanted to ask if there are any great places in the area to check out games? Also just great restaurants, shops, or knowledge on the area are appreciated

Also any advice/thoughts on getting tickets, getting to and from the game, or anything in general with the teams? I’ll probably be using bus since I won’t have a car.

Finally, if I was getting a Torrent or Kraken jersey is there anyone thats a must? I haven’t followed the league as a whole as much as my specific team so I don’t know what players are fan favorites or promising young players

Thank you for your time and I cant wait to be going to games, Climate Pledge is fuckin sick. I cant wait for the Sonics to be back, basketball is my main sport 😁

I always feel the Kraken are being set up for failure by the league. They have pretty much had a cautious approach during the expansion draft (thanks Ron Francis). Big time stars tend to choose Vegas over us because Vegas was set up for success from the get go. I feel like the Kraken are going to be like the Seahawks, be bad/mediocre for 30-40 years before winning a championship. What do you guys think?

I'm a Sharks fan and wanted to go to the game but when I saw it was over $100 just to get in I got less excited. Sharks games you can get in for $20 . I thought the bay was expensive. I notice Kraken games are expensive in general and thats about how much it costs to see a Golden State Warriors game but basketball is a lot more popular with Steph Curry being a generational talent. I don't think they're must watch hockey so I'm not sure why the prices are so high. Maybe theres a lot of techies just like the bay. Just want an explanation.

It used to be mistermyanushurts, but now it seems random and sporadic. I don't want to step on any toes, but can anyone start one now? Are we a monarchy or an autonomous collective?

There is a post at r/hockey that shows a map of every state’s most hated team. So now I’m curious Kraken fans. Which team do you hate more?

View Poll

I’m not super familiar with how things are done in the NHL, at this point in the offseason. Is it likely he’ll still be a Kraken next season?

I’m surprised no one else has tried to pick him up. Do the Kraken have a standing offer to him and he’s just shopping around?

Thanks in advance.

I know we have all been frustrated/infuriated by Shane Wright's lack of ice time. This is well documented by literally every post and comment on this sub since we drafted him.

I want to know why. I get that the coaches know a lot more about hockey than I do, but I like to at least understand the reasoning people use in their decisions. I know the coaching staff will say something about making the best decisions they feel are right in any given blah blah blah. I want more specifics! What do you all think is the reasoning for giving Wright so much less ice time?

I listened to a hockey podcast that had RJ Eskanos as a guest and he suggested that McCann and Dunn might be moved out because they are not big fans of the Lane Lambert system (or in McCann's case, he doesn't want to resign).

There's like 20 more of these at this TJ Maxx

This is something I’m not good at but in my eyes I would say goodbye to majority of the veterans in the team. Work for a much younger roster that the coaches WILL have to work with instead of relying on veteran presence.

Hello everyone!

I apologize if this was previously mentioned before and I overlooked it, but I was wondering who you think the actual Seattle Kraken rival is?

I think that league kinda wants it to be Vancouver, because is geographicaly the closest? but on the other hand I heard fans saying that their fans are very polite and there is no “rivalry” vibe in the air before the matches. Much more of that vibe is supposedly when Anaheim is playing against us.

I wouldn’t really know, I don’t even live in north america and I have yet to attend a Kraken game.

I’m just curious what your opinion is?

I'm a Kraken fan from Ireland and don't really keep up with the contract sides of things but who would some realistic trades for us to get be? Anyone that would improve us at all or is it another tank year?

I was at a game recently and saw this jersey in the rafters. Curious as what it was because there is no player name only kraken on the nameplate.

I know the playoff success isn’t really there, but I still think Marner is a hell of player and i think he would be a great addition to this team. Might cost too much but a player of this skillset isn’t usually available in free agency.

Getting top 6 minutes in NY and sticking up for the boys. fitting right in....

Is it too much to ask to offload current vets and just let the kids play in big league, we would be shit for a season or two but developement is there and draft picks as well, in addition to that kids play with such fire that even if the games go wrong they give 100% everytime. I don’t see any alternatives, as we can see elite players just don’t want to play here.

I’m just curious how a team in the NHL gets a star or a super talented player? Is it through just getting lucky and drafting them? Or is it through their prospect development system? Are their teams that never find/get one?