Scouting Hunter Shinkaruk
Hunter Shinkaruk is an explosive offensive player. The heart of his game is his dynamic skating ability. He has elite top speed and a paralyzing change of pace. I watched him play against the Regina Pats and he must’ve had five scoring chances in the first period alone, all created with his speed. He jumped on loose pucks, got behind the defense, beat Dmen wide and when they started overplaying his speed, he’d pull up and take advantage of easy offensive zone entries and all the space his speed had created.
Hunter’s hands are also top of the class. He can dangle his way past defensemen and goalies, and possesses a powerful, accurate wrist shot that’s lethal from as far out as the tops of the circles and half wall. On the power play, he showed poise in possession, he didn’t rush or rely too heavily on his own shot and made some smart cross ice feeds. And while his playmaking is not at the same level as his one-on-one skills, he’s smart enough to recognize the openings and deliver the puck with timing and accuracy.
On the defensive side of the puck, he pressured the puck carrier on the backcheck and showed good discipline and structure in the defensive zone, getting in shooting lanes and shadowing his point man. You’d expect a player with his fast-break ability to cheat and leave early on breakouts and turnovers, but he didn’t do that and frankly, with his speed, he doesn’t need to.
One element of Shinkaruk’s game that I feel gets overlooked is his willingness to get his nose dirty. On one play, he was backchecking hard so the Regina player dumped it in. Shinkaruk had a chance to beat his man (and his own Dman) to the puck in the corner, but he had a Pat right on his hip and it was clear he was going to get lined up for a big hit in the process. He went in hard anyway and right before getting to the puck, he set his edge and threw his shoulder into him. It didn’t drop him, but it was enough to throw him off balance and allow Shinkaruk to move the puck to the Dman behind the net. The play stuck out for me because it was on the defensive side of the ice. I think it’s easier for an offensive player to show courage around the net when the reward could be a goal, but nobody cheers for the guy who puts himself in harm’s way to go retrieve a dump-in. It showed character and a willingness to put the team first.
The Scout’s Notebook is a sneak-peek at the notes we compile on the players we see. These are snapshots, conveying our impressions of how a player looked in one particular game or over a small sampling of games.
Bill is the northeast regional scout for Future Considerations, the Boston Bruins correspondent for Hockey's Future, and a former collegiate goaltender.
Latest posts by Bill Ladd (see all)
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1.) Seth Jones – D – 6’4, 205
2.) Nathan MacKinnon – C – 5’11, 180
3.) Jonathan Drouin – LW – 5’11, 175
4.) Aleksander Barkov – C – 6’3, 205
5.) Elias Lindholm – C – 6’0, 185
6.) Sean Monahan – C – 6’2, 195
7.) Valeri Nichushkin – RW – 6’3, 175
8.) Hunter Shinkaruk – LW – 5’11, 175
9.) Ryan Pulock – D – 6’1, 205
10.) Nikita Zadorov – D – 6’5, 220
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