Will Kraken’s Shane Wright see more ice time down stretch?

In terms of on-ice success, the Kraken franchise is in the late stages of another step backward this season. But the steady and all-around progress of Shane Wright should provide some measure of hope.

On Tuesday, Wright spent 1:03 with the second power-play unit against the Detroit Red Wings, though both his 10th and 11th goals of the season were at even strength.

“It’s nice to hit that milestone, but I’m looking for more,” Wright said. “I want to keep pushing, keep getting better and score a few more.”

Wright, 21, is seventh on the team in scoring, a single point behind top-line center Matty Beniers. Wright plays nearly five fewer minutes per game, on average, and has seen three fewer games. Coach Dan Bylsma didn’t like what he was seeing from Wright, whom he previously coached in the minors, in November. Bylsma benched Seattle’s youngest player so he could watch, reflect and regroup. That was, mercifully, just a speed bump.

Wright came in under 15 minutes of total ice time against Detroit, the fifth lowest total among forwards. That’s where he’s been, more often than not, this whole season. His average is 13:32, identical to what it was during a few brief call-ups last season.

It would take a remarkable run for the Kraken, who sit 23-28-4 and have dropped five of their past seven games, to make it past their regular-season finale April 15 and into the playoffs. One way to make good use of the last 27 games would be to ease Wright into a more challenging workload, one he could see going forward.

After all, this is someone the franchise’s hopes are pinned on. He seemed to be in a good place even before his career-best, six-game point streak (three goals, four assists) began Jan. 25. He’s getting used to the lifestyle and the workload.

“I’m just enjoying every day. I’m soaking it in, trying to be grateful and learn as much as I can,” Wright said. “Just have fun out there, try not to think too much.

“A lot of it’s a grind, for sure, but it’s fun. It’s NHL. It’s tough to have a bad day here. I love it.”

Tuesday marked the third two-goal effort of Wright’s young career. In Wright’s words this week, Bylsma has given him instructions to hang onto the puck if he doesn’t see a better play, and “to shoot a little more.”

That means the Kraken’s second goal against Detroit, which tied the game 2-2, was exactly what his coach was looking for. Wright entered the offensive zone at the same time as his linemates and didn’t wait for a better play to materialize. He quickly took the shot himself, glove side, bar down.

Wright had a good thing going with Eeli Tolvanen and Oliver Bjorkstrand before Christmas, but the chemistry faded. He has played with several combinations of the Kraken’s middle-six wingers, currently Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky.

He was trying to pass the puck to Burakovsky in the third period, but when it bounced off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot and right back to him, Wright fired on net.

“He’s got a great shot, he’s got great wheels. He needs to use them as often as possible.” Bylsma said. “When he has that mentality, he’s dangerous.”

His second goal kicked off the Kraken’s latest two-goal comeback. They erased a 4-2, third-period Red Wings lead before falling in a shootout, 5-4. Wright was rewarded with his first career shootout attempt, but his bid was saved, along with Beniers’ and Kaapo Kakko’s.

Earlier, Beniers opened the scoring for the Kraken. Confidence and comfort are concerns surrounding most early 20-somethings, including both third-year pro Beniers and first-year pro Wright. To see both of Seattle’s top-five draft picks light up the same game against Detroit was a teaser.

“They’re a big part of our team,” Bylsma said. “It’s good.”

Wright would have to maintain his pace from the past six games to reach Beniers’ Rookie of the Year point total (57) from 2022-23, which isn’t likely. Meeting his own benchmarks, whatever they are, will do fine.

There’s a bad giveaway here and there, but he’s usually responsible in all three zones. His faceoff numbers are all over the map, from 62%, down to 22%, back up to 55.6% all in the past week. That’s not strange for someone his age, and nothing many more draws in practice won’t help.

One of Wright’s two faceoff wins on nine attempts on Sunday was in the back of the Calgary Flames’ net three seconds later as Brandon Tanev went to the net and deflected in a shot from McCann.

“Tonight I saw maybe the highest battle level from him as the game wore on,” Bylsma said of Wright’s game against Calgary on Sunday.

“There were three or four instances where he won pucks with his battle level, with his competitiveness.”