Top 25 Under 25, number 14: Shane Prince
Another in a line of undersized skilled forwards, and another in a line of players plucked from the Senators backyard, Shane Prince looks to have a bright future with the Senators.
Shane Prince is one of those prospects that when you see him in person, he just looks impressive. That was my experience when watching him at his first development camp, shortly after he was drafted. My first real contribution to this site (its been all downhill since) were the fanposts I wrote after attending several days of that camp. I went back and found them (archives are cool) and here's what I said about Prince after day one:
Shane Prince: The guy who stood out the most in my opinion. He is absolutely filthy with the puck, and is extremely quick. Off the rush, his shot is incredible. He almost scored every time he shot the puck, and he really likes to shoot. Think maybe he needs to work on his conditioning, looked bagged during the last skating drill (with the parachutes)
Needless to say, I was a big fan.
Prince is a touch undersized at 5'11 185lbs, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in finesse. In 142 career games with the Ottawa 67's of the OHL, he put up an astounding 191 points, including 178 over his final two shortened seasons.
Much like Mike Hoffman, who was also a big time junior scorer, the points at the professional level may take some time as Prince adjusts his game. So far this season he has played in 30 games with the Binghamton Senators and has put up 12 points. With recent call ups for Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg, and injuries to Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman, expect that Prince may have some more minutes to shine.
At the very least, Prince is a player who may not mind paying his dues in Binghamton, especially because it is so close to home. In an article about Prince earlier in the season, this is what Shane had to say about playing in Bingo:
"It’s only about two hours from Rochester to Binghamton, so (Dan) will definitely be here and I have a ton of family and friends coming to the game as well. It’s definitely convenient to be that close to home, and to be that close to family and friends. Not a lot of people get that opportunity," said Prince
In order to reach the next level Shane will have to do the same things that many junior standouts have to do: get bigger and stronger physically, adjust to the speed of the pro game, learn to be a professional, and round out his overall game by paying more attention to the defensive zone.
There is no secret that the organization is loaded up with young offensively minded prospects, and the way that they are able to push each other and compete for the icetime and opportunities available should be of huge benefit to the Senators.
Shane himself may yet be a few years away, but with the cerebral playmaking ability and offensive talent he has shown thus far in his career, Senators fans should certainly be excited about the fact that he is continuing to learn and grow in the Ottawa system.
