New York Islanders Top 25 Under 25: #12 Shane Prince

New York Islanders forward Shane Prince has wheels. His speed is what brings him in at number twelve in Eyes on Isles Top 25 Under 25 list.

The New York Islanders are a team with a deep youth pool. It’s a pool Garth Snow continues to try and fill. When the Islanders’ General Manager traded for Shane Prince at last year’s deadline, the kid brought with him a deceiving resume and like most young Islanders, he’s come through with flashes of brilliance but not much consistency.

The Islanders got a taste of that after acquiring him and a late-round pick in exchange for a third rounder. His timely and impressive two-goal performance in game one of the Conference semifinals against the Tampa Bay Lightning being his biggest impact for the Islanders.

It wasn’t the first time either. He had multi-point games during the final month of the regular season against the Rangers and the Senators.

Those games, however, come with the ones that show a smattering of goose eggs on the scoresheet and hey, numbers talk.

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Prince Numbers

So let’s talk about numbers because Prince comes with promise. One scouting report offers a small look at what we’ve seen snippets of.

He’s got decent hands and some scoring ability, but his biggest asset is his speed. Speed right now seems to be one of the top sellers on players these days.

A second round pick (61st overall) in the 2011 Entry Draft, Prince has been a successful offensive player. Not just at the amateur level, but the professional with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Binghamton. In his final season with the AHL Senators, he scored 28 goals and added 37 assists.

The former Ottawa Senator’s transition to the NHL hasn’t been as smooth and his 18 points in 64 games is a small sample size.

Our friends at over at Lighthouse Hockey did a pretty thorough analytic workup on Prince and those numbers offer a look at a player who could – and should – trend up under the right circumstances.

Circumstances that include more ice time and perhaps some consistent line-mates.

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Prince showed some chemistry with Ryan Strome, whose just re-upped with the Islanders, signing a two-year deal, and his speed should lend to itself a solid two-way player. Prince himself signed a two-year deal with the Islanders in the offseason, so he’s got that time to show that he is, indeed, on the upswing.