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Prince to debut on Isles’ top line with Tavares and Strome

Hurricanes Senators Hockey

Ottawa Senators’ Shane Prince warms up prior to an NHL game in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Feb 16, 2015. This will be Prince’s first ever NHL game. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

AP

Prior to yesterday’s trade, Shane Prince’s most common linemate with the Ottawa Senators was veteran grinder Chris Neil.

Tonight in Vancouver, Prince will reportedly make his New York Islanders debut on the top line with John Tavares and Ryan Strome.

Talk about a great opportunity for the 23-year-old to make a good first impression.

Prince was traded by the Sens after scoring just three goals in 42 games this season. Still, he’s shown at the lower levels that he can put the puck in the net. He had 28 goals last season for AHL Binghamton. In 2011-12, he scored 43 times for OHL Ottawa in just 57 games.

“[Prince] is a player we feel can rotate up and down the lineup to different lines and has some untapped potential,” Isles GM Garth Snow told Newsday. “He can help us now and hopefully in the future.”

A pending restricted free agent, Prince is no longer waiver-exempt, a factor that contributed to the Senators sending him to the Isles.

“It’s an opportunity for a young man. He wasn’t playing much here. He deserved to play,” Ottawa GM Bryan Murray told NHL.com. “He was a good guy. Worked hard in practice, did all the things. But we felt there were a couple of people in line that could take that job and the coaching staff appeared to like more. We felt to be fair to us and to be fair to Shane, it was the right thing to do.”