Film Room: Shane Wright is on track to reach his potential

It's the first period in a scoreless Game 6 of the Calder Cup Final between the Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Hershey Bears. Shane Wright's looking to break the stalemate, and an opportunity presents itself in the form of a loose puck. He sprints toward it and pins his opponent to the wall so that his team can win possession of the puck. It makes its way to the net-front, and his teammate makes no mistake, depositing the puck into the back of the net.

Eventually, Wright takes this game over. Two plays in the third period stand out, each a drive for the net-front through the low-slot for a scoring chance; the first is a clean goal, the second a rebound that sets his linemate up for the tally.

His Firebirds would go on to lose that game and the Calder Cup in the process, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort on Wright's part. His three points gave the Firebirds a chance to battle in overtime and extend the series.

The centre's shift-to-shift engagement was criticized in his draft year, especially his tendency to trail behind the play and fade in the background. Watching him this season, however, that was no longer the case.

The many great performances he lined up in both the Calder Cup and at the NHL level are rapidly changing the perception of his game. They're giving weight to the arguments that Wright never really lacked engagement, but that he simply approached the game in a more cerebral manner. {{