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.