Press box time pays off for Vancover prospect Shinkaruk

When first round draft picks don't immediately pan out in professional hockey, it can be tough for the players to deal with their first taste of adversity. But for Canucks prospect Hunter Shinkaruk, his time as a healthy scratch last season was a solid reminder of how much work he needed to put in to make it at the highest level of hockey. 

"Obviously it is tough. You don’t want to have that happen but that’s part of hockey and that’s part of life," Shinkaruk said in a recent interview with the Vancouver Metro. "There’s going to be things that don’t go well but you’ve got to come to the rink and work as hard as you can. I thought the way I finished the year, it was about as good as I can going into this camp."

After two years of performing above a point-per-game pace in junior, Shinkaruk made his debut with the AHL Utica Comets last season and totaled 31 points in 74 games, good for eighth on the team. Those numbers are not bad in theory, but they were far below the expectations for the 20-year-old.

So this season, Shinkaruk returns to Canucks camp with something to prove. The mission will begin Friday with the first Young Stars Tournament game against Oilers' prospects, and if Shinkaruk does well, he could potentially fight for a spot on an abnormally thin Vancouver roster.

But while Vancouver's pro roster is not overflowing with depth, the prospect pool is a different story. Shinkaruk will have to outshine fellow bright prospects Jake Virtanen and Cole Cassels among others. Perhaps the press box motivation from last season will be just what Shinkaruk needs to perform at his best.

(h/t Vancouver Metro)