The Matt Duchene trade back in November paid immediate dividends for the Avalanche with the arrival of defenseman Samuel Girard (and later with goalie Andrew Hammond, who made 44 saves in a 2-1 win against Nashville in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series).

Shane Bowers, remember him?

The 18-year-old center was among the four players (and three draft picks) acquired in the Duchene trade that involved Ottawa and Nashville, and the youngster showed plenty of promise his freshman year at Boston University.

The Senators’ first-round pick (No. 28) in the 2017 NHL draft, Bowers finished as BU's third-leading scorer with 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in 40 games.

“From the talks I’ve had (with Avalanche management) they’re happy with where I’m at,” Bowers said in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald. “They’re excited for my future here and for me to develop as a player.

“Our coach (David Quinn) used to work within the Colorado system, so he’s familiar with the organization. They’re happy with having me here now and I’ll continue to try to develop here so I can hopefully make it as a pro one day.”

Like Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon, Bowers is from Halifax. Unlike MacKinnon, who took the junior route and played for the hometown Mooseheads, Bowers played two years with the Waterloo (Iowa) Black Hawks of the USHL before heading to college.

“Obviously being from Halifax the major junior route was enticing, but now that I’m experiencing (college), I definitely have no regrets,” said Bowers, who is majoring in marketing with a business minor.

“I wasn’t living with a billet family anymore, so adjusting to the class schedule and managing your time took a little bit. The schoolwork could also get hard sometimes, but it was all just time management and I got used to that too.”

The Terriers, who play in Hockey East, were 7-10-1 as late as Dec. 8 and went 15-3-3 the rest of the way to earn the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Northeast Regional, where they lost 6-3 to Michigan.

Still, Bowers called his freshman year “awesome” and is eager to return for his sophomore campaign.

“The NCAA is a lot older league and we were actually the youngest team in the country, so to be able to play against the older and stronger competition, I think it really benefited me,” he said. “And with the shorter season we got a lot of time for the gym, so I benefited from that as well. But overall I feel like my first season was a huge success from a development standpoint.

“I’d say the first few games there was a bit of an adjustment because it’s obviously faster than junior and with the guys’ strength, you couldn’t just knock guys off the puck or pickpocket them; you really had to get in there. But as long as you make sure you’re protecting the puck and trying to skate from checks, it was OK.

“It’s been awesome for me and it’s really working out.”



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