Brand new suitor emerges for Shane Wright and the return haul is steep

It may be the opposite.

The Athletic's Josh Yohe reported Monday that Kyle Dubas and the Penguins front office are intrigued by the 22-year-old center. Wright, the fourth overall pick in 2022, wants out of Seattle after slipping from 44 points to 27 last season.

On its face, this is a clean fit.

Wright earns under $900,000 next season on the last year of his entry-level deal, then becomes a restricted free agent in 2027.

Yohe also noted the piece of connective tissue everyone latched onto: Ron Francis, who drafted Wright in Seattle, just rejoined Pittsburgh as an advisor to Dubas.

The consensus reads Francis as inside information - the man who knows Wright best now sits in Pittsburgh's war room. But intel doesn't set a trade price. The seller does.

Francis didn't leave Seattle on warm terms. He stepped down as president in April after reported friction with Jason Botterill, the GM now running the Wright market.

Botterill has no reason to hand a discount to the executive he pushed past, or to the team that just hired him. If anything, a deal that makes Francis's new club look smart is one Botterill will price to the ceiling.

So the real cost isn't the Rakell-plus package fans keep debating.

It's a sky-high ask, set partly by front-office history, for a player whose own development stalled under the very people vouching for him.

Francis knowing Wright best also means Francis watched him regress. That's not a green light - it's the fine print.

Dubas should want Wright on upside, not on a reunion story that quietly raises his price and lowers his margin for error.

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