Silver Nuggets: Shane Prince and the Waiver Conundrum

Remember back in 2013, when a loophole made it so that Jared Cowen suddenly needed a new contract? Or earlier this summer, when we learned that Derek Grant and Chris Wideman were Group VI UFAs? That's kind of how I feel about the latest news that Shane Prince is waiver eligible for this season. It seems like the kind of thing that's a fairly big deal, so that someone should've realized it before now.

For the Senators, this could be a huge decision. Last year saw Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to the minors because he was still waiver eligible, though Bryan Murray said he probably deserved to make the team over some of the players on one-way contracts. Though Shane Prince isn't on a one-way contract, the fact that the team coudl lose him may make it more likely for him to make the team out of camp. On the one hand, lots of the blogging community will be happy to see anything that helps Prince make the team. On the other hand, I'm still hoping we end up with a best players play scenario. It seems like this could take away one of the two or three spots at most that the young players were competing for at camp.

Of course, this doesn't actually guarantee Prince a spot. The team could always bury him as the 23rd player, getting last year's mid-season Colin Greening treatment. This would probably be the worst option for his development, hanging out with the big club but hardly playing.

The team could also open him up to waivers. Back at the start of 2013-14, the Sens put Mike Hoffman through waivers. After he led all rookies in goals last year, I wonder if any teams wish they'd put in a claim the year before. More recently, the Canucks put Jacob Markstrom through waivers last year. The much-hyped prospect had fallen out of favour in Florida, and cleared likely because of uncertainty about his future. After a phenomenal AHL season, the team knew he wouldn't clear waivers this year, and traded Eddie Lack to make space.

It's tough to envision Shane Prince clearing waivers. He's a 22-year-old former second-round pick who came sixth in the entire AHL in points last year. He was also named to the Second All-Star Team. The only real loss for a team in claiming him is one of their 50 total roster spots. It's safe to say he wouldn't fly under the radar. And there's always the Tim Murray in Buffalo aspect of trying to sneak any one of the Sens' prospects through waivers.

I really hope Prince makes the team outright. If he has a disappointing camp but still makes the team, people will mutter. And if he's put through waivers, I'll hold my breath for a full 24 hours, because then I'd expect the team to lose him for nothing.

Sens Links:

• This week's question, asking how much Chris Phillips will play [Silver Seven]
  
• If you don't check out the website on the weekends, you should. Trevor wrote a great article on Sunday arguing that simply making the playoffs shouldn't be the Sens' goal anymore [Silver Seven]
  
• The latest Chet and Luke Podcast is out, in which they interview players at rookie camp [Silver Seven]
  
• SensChirp with some thoughts on training camp and the rookie tournament [SensChirp]
  
• SensChirp also with some specific thoughts on the first day of the rookie tourney [SensChirp]
  
• Ken Warren argues it's time for the Sens' 2011 picks (Zibanejad, Puempel, Prince, Pageau, McCormick, and Dzingel) to step up [Ottawa Citizen]
  
• Andrew talks about the lack of diversity in hockey coverage, and how the rise of blogging and analytics hasn't done much to fix this [WTYKY]
  
• Peter Levi with his next series of thoughts, including a reference to Jeff Ulmer's Bingo Bites from last week [Eye on the Sens]
• Randy Lee's thoughts on players during rookie camp [Senators]
• Nichols' thoughts on Prince needing waivers, rookie camp, and more [6th Sens]
  
• Mike Wheeler on Phillips wishing everyone would stop talking about his retirement [Bonk's Mullet]
  

Non-Sens Links:

• Bit of an older article, but an important one, interviewing Matt O'Connor's college goaltending coach about how his game has improved. Comparisons to Carey Price and Ben Bishop are pretty lofty in my opinion [Today's Slapshot]
• Scott Cullen projects the NHL's top-300 scorers. The first Senator is Erik Karlsson with 67 points, good enough for 20th [TSN]
• Matt Mowrer looks at the top 15 defencemen for fantasy hockey [In Lou We Trust]
• It's looking like the NHL could try a Ryder Cup-style event (i.e. North America vs. Europe) mid-season in 2017-18. Which just happens to be when the Winter Olympics will take place in South Korea [ESPN]
• Finally, guess which team Bleacher Report forgot in listing the team rankings from NHL 16 [Bleacher Report]