Future Stock
The aforementioned Beniers now has four goals and four assists in the last seven games, doing his part to shore up fans about future seasons for the young guys and valuable veterans wearing the “S” on their jerseys. Dave Hakstol rolled an all-kid line at Monday’s practice and the trio of Logan Morrison centering Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton picked up many shifts together Tuesday. With Ryker Evans appearing in his 31st NHL game, the kid stuff has been good stuff in recent weeks.
Wright On ... Time and Goal
When the Kraken called up 2022 first-round draft choice Wright (No. 4 overall) last week, fans had to tune into ROOT Sports to watch the young center who has excelled with American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley this season. Well, on Friday night, hundreds of AHL Firebirds fans made the 90-minute drive north to see Wright score two goals in Anaheim.
With the squad back in town for two final home games Tuesday and Thursday, Kraken faithful seized the opportunity to check in on Wright’s game since he last appeared at the NHL level for a trio of games in November. Those fans didn’t have to wait long to find reason to cheer and feel quite good, thank you, about the future state of the franchise.
That’s because the 20-year-old scored on his first shift here at Climate Pledge Arena, taking a pass from linemate Jordan Eberle and quickly backhanding a shot (wait a minute, isn’t that Eberle’s signature move?) that eluded Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka. It’s another close-in successful attempt for Wright, who was facing the Kraken and a quick loft from a sharp angle not far from the goalie, caught Vejmelka by surprise.