What does the future hold for Hunter Shinkaruk?
 |
| Hunter Shinkaruk with the Vancouver Canucks. Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images |
As little known as it was to many fans at the time, the
Hunter Shinkaruk trade has, for me, quietly gone down as one of the worst trades
the Montreal Canadiens made last season. While it didn’t amount to much in the
end, it’s immediate effect could be seen by those who paid attention to it.
On February 25th, 2018, the Habs traded long time
center and fan favorite Tomas Plekanec to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with
Kyle Baun, in exchange for Rinat Valiev, Kerby Rychel and a 2nd
round pick.
At the time, the trade was basically a depth acquisition for
the Leafs, wanting Plekanec’s experience and penalty killing acumen as they headed
into the playoffs, only to lose in the first round in 7 games. For the Habs,
Valiev and Rychel both brought decent depth to the roster and produced well for
the Laval Rocket. Come next season, Rychel, on August 20th, 2018,
just before the start of training camp, he was also dealt to Calgary in
exchange for Hunter Shinkaruk.
As I stated, the trade mostly fell under the radar, as both
Shinkaruk and Rychel were cut from the same cloth. Being drafted 19th
and 24th overall respectively in 2013, they were seen as draft busts
who could produce consistently in the AHL yet could never replicate that success
in the NHL. While Rychel was seen as more of a power forward, and Shinkaruk a
more speed-oriented player, it was expected they would produce similar numbers
and aid their AHL teams respectively.
Well, that didn’t exactly happen.
While Rychel did what was expected, producing 43 points in 57
games (earning a 4-game cup of coffee with the Flames) Shinkaruk, to put it
politely, struggled. While he wasn’t expected to produce a ton (as he had just 32
points in 63 games the season prior) no Canadiens fans could’ve predicted it
would be this bad, as Shinkaruk recorded just 10 points in 54 games. To quote
the Canadiens SB Nation blog, Habs Eyes on the Prize, “Let us just get this
point out of the way right from the start: Hunter Shinkaruk’s season with the
Laval Rocket was abysmal in every possible sense.”
Towards the end stretch of the season, as the Rocket found
themselves somehow fighting for a playoff spot, Shinkaruk was benched in favor
of ECHL call ups like Alex Kile and Joe Cox, as his playing time diminished greatly
under head coach Joel Bouchard. After the Canadiens announced they wouldn’t qualify
him as he was set to become a free agent, I sat and wondered if he would even
find a team willing to take on his services.
 |
| Joe Cox was one of the many ECHL call ups dressed over Shinkaruk. Credit: Florida Everblades |
18 days into free agency, however,
Shinkaruk signed an AHL deal with the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate, the
Charlotte Checkers, quite a fall from grace, to say the least. Now, with a lot to
prove and a declining window to make the NHL, the question remains,
What does the future hold for Hunter Shinkaruk?
The thing is, when talking about Shinkaruk’s season last
year, it made a lot of people forget what made him a 1st round pick
in the first place. In his 3-and-a-half-year career with the Medicine Hat Tigers
of the WHL, Shinkaruk put up really good numbers, posting 49 goals in his
sophomore year in 2012. As I mentioned, Shinkaruk is a speedier player by
nature, and this was on full display in junior. Looking at those numbers, its
easy to see why teams were interested.
At his core, Shinkaruk is your typical scoring forward. He possesses
blistering speed, soft hands, a decent shot, and can be really dangerous when
leading the rush and especially on breakaways, which is where he proved to be
the most effective. In previous years in the AHL, Shinkaruk had shown this,
recording 39 points in 45 games with the Utica Comets in 2016. However, this
offensive acumen comes with a downside.
At his best, Shinkaruk is like most purely scoring AHL forwards,
which isn’t a bad thing at all. These players still exist in modern day, and
its been shown with players like Brandon Pirri that they can find success at
both the AHL and NHL, while becoming more complete players. At his worst though,
Shinkaruk can basically be a liability to the team, as his defensive skills aren’t
quite up to snuff.
 |
| Brandon Pirri was a surprising success story this past year with the Vegas Golden Knights. Credit: NHL.com |
In previous posts on this blog I’ve talked about forwards
like Daniel Carr and wondered when their chance will come again. Carr’s
complete 200-foot game is suited to the modern-day NHL and on the right team he
can produce, as he’s proving in the AHL. While Shinkaruk has come close to proving
himself, he always seems to take 1 step forward, 2 steps back, now finding
himself farther back than that.
Does this mean that his chance at the NHL is over? Not necessarily,
I just think he’ll need to work his butt off this year to prove he’s worth
another look. If he does that, look for him to find his way back to a 2-way NHL
deal, as was seen with Tomas Jurco this past season. If he doesn’t, well, I wouldn’t
be surprised if we see a speedy exit, for this speedy forward.
Find me on Twitter @9secondsot
Comments
Post a Comment