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Through trying times, Hunter Shinkaruk is still smiling
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Thomas Drance
Sep 15, 2015, 13:09 EDTUpdated:
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Photo Credit: Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports
If you’ve watched Vancouver Canucks prospect Hunter Shinkaruk play hockey at all, what stands out as much as any of his particular on-ice skills, is the joyfulness that he brings to the rink. It’s a joyfulness that becomes especially pronounced when he scores. 
In his rookie year as a professional, Shinkaruk bounced up and down the lineup with the American League’s Utica Comets. Coming off of major hip surgery, Shinkaruk was snake bit to begin the year. From October through to February, Shinkaruk appeared in 54 games, and while he averaged better than two shots on goal per contest (a very healthy rate), he scored just seven goals. 
It was tough sledding for the 2013 first-round pick, but he’s put that trying period behind him going into his second season as a pro. Has the organization though?
“Last year I came off a pretty major hip surgery and when you go down to the (American League) it’s a lot different, but I think a lot of people do forget, I finished the season with 16 goals,” Shinkaruk said of his slow start to the year. “So I feel like I had a good end of the season. I’m not trying to think about the start of my year, I just want to go build on what I did and I feel ready to do that.”
In discussing Shinkaruk’s rookie campaign with the media this weekend, Canucks general manager Jim Benning suggested that the organization has a somewhat longer memory than the 20-year-old forward.
“I thought over the course of last year when he started playing pro he played a junior game at the pro level,” Benning said of Shinkaruk’s rookie campaign. “About halfway through the season we saw him play the pro game, do all the little things right. All of a sudden the first game he was back to doing all the things he did last year…”
Benning did, in fairness, go on to commend Shinkaruk’s performance in the second and third games of the tournament. 
The Penticton tournament was, perhaps, something of a microcosm for Shinkaruk’s rookie season. It was the second half of his first American League campaign, after all, where Shinkaruk got back on track. In fact, he shone. 
Paired with Cal O’Reilly on the Comets’ first line at 5-on-5 for the last part of the 2014-15 regular season, Shinkaruk began to pour in goals. In an 11 game stretch between mid-March and mid-April, Shinkaruk found the back of the net eight times while tallying 10 total points. It appeared as if he’d found his game.
“For me looking at last year, when I did play with the first line and play power play, I feel like I maybe had as good of a stint as anyone did in the league the whole year,” Shinkaruk said at the Penticton Young Stars game. “I think through that stint I showed that I can do exactly what I did in junior.”
The opportunity to play at the top of the Comets’ lineup throughout this upcoming campaign is there for the taking, particularly with Sven Baertschi likely to graduate to the NHL full time, Cory Conacher off to Europe, and Cal O’Reilly joining his more famous brother with the Buffalo Sabres organization. 
There’s no doubt about it: the Comets are going to need Shinkaruk’s raw offensive skill.
“I don’t think there’s any major hurdle that he has to get over,” Comets coach Travis Green said of Shinkaruk’s development. “It’s just about progressing like all young players have to do, and make sure you don’t stop progressing.
“The AHL is hard when you’re a young guy coming into the league. The strength issues, the pace, getting into battles with bigger stronger guys. But (Shinkaruk’s) attitude never wavered. He works extremely hard, and he had a good season last year.”
Shinkaruk’s season was more uneven than it was good, but there are still a variety of reasons to believe that he could develop into an everyday NHL scoring forward. His play along the wall stood out at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, and the skill level that made him a first-round pick is particularly evident when he’s handling the puck down low.  
The numbers tend to be in his favour also. Using the Prospect Cohort Success tool, roughly 35 percent of 20-year-old forwards with a similar build who scored at a similar rate to what Shinkaruk managed in his rookie campaign at the AHL level went on to play 200 games in the NHL or more. While many of Shinkaruk’s comparables ultimately carved out an NHL niche as a result of attributes other than their offensive ability – like Tomas Plekanec or Nick Foligno, for example – there are some effective scoring forwards within that group (Jason Pominville, for example).
With Canucks main camp opening next weekend, Shinkaruk isn’t focused on playing top-six minutes or getting power-play time in the American League. He just wants to play in the NHL, and in any capacity.
“At the end of the day you have to learn to play different roles and you’ve got to go with it as a young guy,” Shinkaruk said. “Obviously that’s where I want to be. If it is with the big club, if it’s in a third-line role, I feel like I can play that too.”
Meanwhile his probable head coach this season has some advice on what he needs to do to be effective.
“When he’s going he’s got the puck, but he’s not forcing plays and as a result he gets chances,” Green said of Shinkaruk on Monday. “When he’s not on his game he tries to make something out of nothing and it goes the other way.”
The point, it seems, isn’t about where Shinkaruk plays in the lineup. It’s just about sticking to his game and being confident within himself without overdoing it.
“I think a little bit (of my hot streak) had to do with opportunities, but I think it was good that I learned other roles too,” Shinkaruk said. “For me it was just getting back to playing my game. When I was in junior I went out there and used my skill and did the things I know I could do. Once I got that confidence back I feel like I showed that i can be a (top-line player).”
With his retrieved confidence and after his first healthy summer since before his draft eligible season, Shinkaruk is intent on focusing on the work. And completing that work with a smile on his face.
“My goal is to be up with the big club,” the skilled forward said on Sunday. “So all I’m thinking about day in and day out is coming in and working hard, having a smile on my face and playing the game I love.”

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