The Edmonton Oilers need a centre.

Tuesday’s season opener didn’t go great, and it surely didn’t help that both Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jason Dickinson were out of the lineup. Even with a healthy Nugent-Hopkins and Dickinson, centre is still an area of need, as Nugent-Hopkins’ numbers away from Draisaitl and McDavid aren’t great.

Add in the fact that head coach Mike Babcock seemingly wants to put Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together on the top line, and the need for a centre is obvious.

Enter Shane Wright.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliott Freidman on a recent 32 Thoughts podcast , the Oilers “poked around” on Wright, but noted that he doesn’t believe it will happen. It absolutely should.

The Oilers have had some success with reclamation projects the last couple of seasons. Vasily Podkolzin has broken out into a top-six forward after a tough start to his career with the Vancouver Canucks. Matthew Savoie had a terrific post-Olympic stretch and has also positioned himself to be a staple in the Oilers’ top six when he returns to health. Savoie was selected ninth overall, and Podkolzin 10th overall.

Both players are late bloomers relative to where they were selected. Wright was selected five spots before Savoie and had a strong rookie season in 2024-25, scoring 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games with the Seattle Kraken. Last season, his scoring took a dip, managing just 12 goals and 27 points in 74 games.

Wright isn’t a great face-off taker, but is a strong two-way centre with the ability to put up 40+ points a season and potentially even more. The underlying metrics during five-on-five play were encouraging, owning 55.56 percent of the goal share and 50.43 percent of the expected goal share.

Acquiring Wright gives the second line a centre who is capable of even more growth, and not just any centre, but a right-shot centre. It would also allow McDavid and Draisaitl to play together on the top line.

All that being said, acquiring Wright would cost the Oilers a pretty penny. Although he asked for a trade for a fresh start, according to his agent Kurt Overhardt, Wright is just four years removed from being the fourth overall pick. The shine of his draft selection still remains as he’s just 22 years old.

Add the fact that he’s had productive seasons and is making a league-minimum $886,666 with restricted free agent rights, and you could see how the cost may be a bit more than what the Oilers want to give up.

A trade for Wright likely requires one of Savoie or Isaac Howard going the other way. With Howard playing on the fourth line in Tuesday’s season opener, the winger may not have much of a future with this team going forward. Because of where Wright was selected, it also seems likely the Kraken would want a pick or two going back the other way. 

Perhaps something like this, courtesy of PuckPedia’s PuckGM, can get the job.

So what does a healthy Oilers lineup look like? Through pre-season, Podkolzin played alongside Draisaitl and McDavid, so we can assume that’s the first line with a healthy team + Wright. Nugent-Hopkins served as the second line centre with Zach Hyman and Howard during pre-season. So swapping Wright with Howard here makes sense.

Then on the third line, Dickinson centres the line with Savoie on the left and Kasperi Kapanen on the right. The fourth line can rotate through six players: Alex Formenton, Owen Michaels, Mathieu Joseph, Trent Frederic, Colton Dach, and Max Jones. Frederic, Michaels, and Dach can serve as the team’s centres.

In a perfect world, below is what would be the ideal lines with a fully healthy team with Wright on the roster. Again, this comes courtesy of PuckPedia’s PuckGM.

It’s not encouraging that Friedman reported that he doesn’t think a Wright trade will happen for the Oilers, but he is a perfect fit if they want to use Draisaitl and McDavid on a line together. Acquiring Wright would also help them in the short-term, as they’re running Dach and Michaels as centres in their bottom-six.

Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFOEdmonton, DFOCalgary, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @CynthiaRDelaney.

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