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Shane Prince

Minor Transactions: 12/16/2023

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It’s ramp-up time for international hockey across the world. The 2023 World Junior A Challenge will play its medal games on Sunday, the Spengler Cup is 10 days away from its kickoff, matched by the kickoff of the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships kicking off on the same day. Teams are finalizing their lineups and beginning travel for the latter two tournaments and with an uptick in games has come an uptick in player movement. As always, we’ll keep track of notable player transactions here:

  • 153-game veteran of the NHL Michael Hutchinson has signed a one-year contract with the AHL’s Grand Rapid Griffins that will carry the goalie through the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Hutchinson has appeared in 13 games for Grand Rapids this season under a professional try-out contract. He gets promoted to a full contract after setting a 5-7-1 record and .895 save percentage with the Griffins. Hutchinson has spent the last five seasons bouncing between the NHL and AHL, failing to record more than 30 games in any league since the 2015-16 season. The now 33-year-old goaltender has played all across North America, playing for five different NHL clubs and seven different AHL clubs since becoming a pro in 2010-11. Hutchinson was drafted by the Boston Bruins – a club he never played an NHL game for – in the third round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
  • Belarusian National Team player Shane Prince has signed a new, one-year contract with Spartak Moscow of the KHL. This deal will carry him through the rest of the 2023-24 season. Prince has become a prominent member of Russia’s top league since moving to the country for the 2018-19 season. He’s since totaled 167 points in 256 games in the KHL, intermixed with 19 appearances and 12 points in the National League, Switzerland’s top league. Prince also began playing with Belarus’ national team at the 2021 World Cup, and other international matchups that year, and most recently joined the team in their win of the Channel One Cup. Prince was once a highly-regarded NHL draft prospect, hearing his name called by the Ottawa Senators in the second round of the 2011 NHL Draft. But despite a strong OHL career, Prince was never able to get it going in the NHL or AHL. He totaled 38 points in 128 NHL games, and 150 points in 210 AHL games, before his move to Russia.

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Evening Notes: Prince, Foote, Levi

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Former New York Islanders forward Shane Prince signed an extension today with Spartak Moskva to remain in the KHL for the 2023-24 season. The Rochester, New York native never quite found his scoring touch in the NHL, scoring just 12 goals in 128 games with the Islanders and the Ottawa Senators. However, since joining the KHL he has 57 goals in 220 games. Prince was once thought of as a potential top-9 forward in the Ottawa Senators farm system after he notched 65 points in 72 AHL games in 2014-15, but he was unable to develop a consistent scoring touch in the NHL and found himself out of the league by 2018.

This season Prince has 35 points in 50 games and has found a home as a top-6 forward with Spartak. With his extension the 30-year-old has decided to forgo an opportunity to try and get back to the NHL for the time being. Although given the recent trend in the NHL to go younger, it seemed highly unlikely that the former second round pick would have another crack at a NHL job. Should he continue to show his recent scoring touch, he could find an NHL team calling in the summer of 2024 with an offer of a tryout or a two-way contract.

Some notes from around the NHL:

  • The New Jersey Devils announced today that they have recalled forward Nolan Foote from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. Foote has dressed in 49 AHL games this season scoring 18 goals and 12 assists. He was with the big club for their recent California swing through Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose, but played sparingly in his last outing as he saw just 3:08 of ice time. The 22-year-old was a first round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 but has struggled to find the consistency he displayed in his AHL rookie season where he scored 17 points in 24 games. With his recall, Foote will have another opportunity to show the Devils that he is part of their young core moving forward.
  • Fresh off signing Devon Levi to an entry level contract, Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams appears to have decided to keep the young netminder in Buffalo for the time being. The Buffalo News reporter Lance Lysowski quotes Adams as saying “We’ll kind of take it day by day, but we just thought for his development, where we are right now, this was a critical time for him to learn and grow with us and that’s why he’s coming right in.” For the Sabres it makes sense to have the young netminder shadow a veteran like Craig Anderson. Levi has had a rocket like trajectory as he has come from out of nowhere after being drafted in the seventh round and playing CCHL Tier 1 hockey in Ontario for the 2019-20 season. Should he continue on this path he could be the Sabres goaltender of the future.

Shane Prince Signs In KHL

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Despite the announcement that he would be returning to North America after his recent contract termination in Switzerland, veteran forward Shane Prince has instead signed with Sibir Novosibirsk in the KHL. The former New York Islanders player will spend the rest of the season with his new club, after which he could once again pursue opportunities back in North America.

Prince, 26, became an unrestricted free agent in the most recent offseason after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Islanders, and decided to take his talents overseas. After signing a two-year contract with HC Davos in the NLA, he recorded six points in 16 games before requesting his release. The team granted it and terminated his contract to allow him the opportunity to return to North America, something that clearly has not happened. After the season with Sibir, he will once again be an unrestricted free agent.

Once a promising prospect in the Ottawa Senators program, Prince failed to translate his huge minor league offense into much at the NHL level and was routinely bounced between the two levels. His career high came in 2016-17 with the Islanders when he registered 18 points in 50 games, but still couldn’t find much consistent playing time. After an injury plagued 2017-18 campaign, the team bid him farewell instead of risking salary arbitration.

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Shane Prince Released From Davos, Intends To Return To North America

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Former Senators and Islanders winger Shane Prince requested and was granted the termination of his contract with HC Davos, the Swiss team announced.  In that release, Prince indicated that his intention is to return to the NHL this season.

The 26-year-old had an injury-plagued 2017-18 campaign that limited him to just 14 games with the Islanders (plus four in the minors on a conditioning stint).  As a result, New York declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June, making him an unrestricted free agent.  He had inked a two-year deal with Davos back in August.

This season, Prince ranked third in scoring on Davos with three goals and three assists in 16 games.  In his NHL career, he has 28 points in 128 games between Ottawa and New York.

Considering that Prince had such a limited impact last season, it’s hard to imagine that he could land a one-way contract and a guaranteed spot in an NHL lineup right away.  However, if he’s willing to sign a two-way deal and start in the minors (pending him passing through waivers unclaimed), he could work his way into the mix later on this season.

Shane Prince Signs In Switzerland

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Islanders unrestricted free agent winger Shane Prince has signed a two-year deal with HC Davos in Switzerland, the NLA team announced (link in German).  He was non-tendered by New York back in late June.

After putting up a career-high 18 points in 50 games in 2016-17, the team was hoping that Prince would be able to build off that performance.  However, injury troubles limited him to just 14 games (plus four in the minors on a conditioning assignment) and he didn’t make much of an impact in those contests, collecting just a single goal and an assist.

Over his career, the 25-year-old has played in 128 games between the Senators and Islanders, scoring a dozen goals while picking up 16 assists.  Given that level of production, it’s quite likely that only two-way offers were on the table for Prince so instead, he will try his luck overseas.  He’ll get the opportunity to play a top-six role with Davos and a strong showing over the next couple of years could help him get back on the NHL radar for the summer of 2020.

Metropolitan Notes: Cullen, Sheary, Prince

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Wild center Matt Cullen surprised some when he decided to leave Pittsburgh in free agency to return to Minnesota.  While there’s no indication a trade is imminent, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that a return to the Penguins could still happen depending on how Minnesota fares in the coming weeks before the trade deadline.  He adds that while Cullen could draw interest from other contending teams, his preference would be to return to Pittsburgh.

Cullen’s second stint with his hometown team in Minnesota hasn’t gone as well as his first as the 41-year-old has recorded just four goals and seven assists in 49 games this season after putting back-to-back 30-plus point seasons with the Penguins.  While Cullen isn’t an ideal fit for a third line pivot which is an area Pittsburgh is looking to improve, he would add some desired depth down the middle, presumably at a fairly inexpensive acquisition cost if Minnesota decides to sell in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan:

  • Still with the Penguins, winger Conor Sheary is dealing with a lower-body issue, the team announced on Twitter. Sheary was able to finish Tuesday’s game against San Jose despite the injury but there’s no word on whether or not he will be available for their next game on Friday against Washington.  If he can’t play, winger Ryan Reaves will likely draw back in.
  • The Islanders have transferred winger Shane Prince (upper-body injury) to injured reserve retroactive to January 18th, the team announced (Twitter link). The move was made in order to activate winger Andrew Ladd off IR as he returned to the lineup against Toronto.  Prince last saw action on the 18th and because of the retroactive designation, he will be eligible to be activated at any time since more than seven days have passed from the injury.

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