The Islander 16/17 report cards continue today as we focus on winger Shane Prince. Much like yesterday’s player, Alan Quine, Prince falls into the class of players that are kind of roster fillers. This is no disrespect to Prince, rather, an indictment of the lack of depth that this organization has upfront. As I look at Prince, it reminds me of a pass/fail elective in school. It’s hard to grade someone whose role is very unclear.

I think in a perfect world Prince is an AHL call up, maybe a tweener, someone who can’t crack a NHL lineup consistently but perhaps someone who has nothing to gain in the AHL. Is Prince a top six forward? I don’t believe so. Is he someone who can provide depth in a bottom six role? I don’t think that is a good fit either, therefore, Prince is kind of a spare part and unfortunately the Isles have too many spare parts on their roster.

In 50 games this season Prince scored 5 goals and added 13 assists for a total of 18 points. Prince did battle injuries and perhaps if he was healthy I could have grasped his role on the team better. Prince does have talent, he is a strong skater with an above average shot. However I just don’t know what he is at this point. Is he a late bloomer, someone who can explode? Or is he a fringe NHL player who is destined for Europe in a few seasons.

I can’t crush Prince with a grade. He is what he is right now and it is not his fault that he was injured. I can’t crush him either for being bounced around the lineup that is on the coaching staff and not the player. Like I said earlier, I don’t think this a player that you can assign a letter grade to, therefore we are going to simply give him a Pass, not because of his play but because I have no idea what his role is to this organization.

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