Drafted 61st Overall by the Dallas Stars.
Today we bring you another of our honourable mentions. Devin Shore spent the year playing for the Whitby Fury in the Ontario Junior A Circuit. This is another league with extremely limited coverage and unfortunately none of our contributors were able to see Shore play. Shore won awards as Ontario Junior A Rookie of the Year, and Ontario Junior A Top Prospect. He is getting a ton of draft buzz as a possible late 2nd/early 3rd round pick. Shore hopes to follow in the footsteps of players like Andrew Cogliano who have been highly drafted out of the Ontario Junior A circuit. Shore is committed to playing NCAA hockey at Maine University.
Forward
Born Jul 19 1994 — Ajax, ONT
Height 6’0.25″ — Weight 185 — Shoots Left
| 2011-12 | Whitby Fury | OJHL | 41 | 29 | 29 | 58 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 10 |
Here are some quotes and rankings on Shore from around the Web.
TSN Scout Craig Button Ranks Shore 37 on his draft list.
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Shore comes in at #57 on Bob McKenzies June Draft List, a compilation of the opinions of actual NHL Scouts.
Button says the following about Shore, “Devin is a solid all-around player who is concerned with one thing – What can I do to help the team win. Incredibly unselfish, when it comes to the critical times in the game, Devin will take the ‘bull by the horns’ and do whatever is in the best interests of the team.”
The Hockey News ranks Shore #68 and calls him an “effective high scoring forward.”
McKeen’s Draft Guide ranks Shore at 90 and says: “Shore has outstanding offensive ability and can manufacture scoring chances due to his poise with the puck and offensive zone hockey sense. He puts himself in good positions to score by driving the net hard, to go along with his hair-trigger release.”
The Hockey Writers have Shore ranked at 55. And Ross Bonander says the following about him: “In 41 games this past season with the Fury, this dominating power forward with fantastic stickhandling skills and brilliant passing abilities notched 29-29-58, including 9 goals and 17 assists on the power play. A prolific point-producer, Shore enjoyed 17 multi-point games and a 14-game scoring streak. ”
The Future Consideration’s Draft Guide ranks Shore at 64 and states the following: “A super talented playmaking forward with a good head on his shoulders. Skates with decent top speed but needs to work on his first few steps. Has fine agility and lateral mobility, especially with the puck on his stick.”
Hockey Prospect ranks Shore 64th and states: “Shore plays some really smart offensive zone hockey. His defensive hockey is still a work in progress. In the offensive zone he sees the ice well and reads what the defense is giving him. He positions himself really well when he doesn’t have the puck, finding quiet areas that make him dangerous.”
NHL Central Scouting ranks Shore 58th among North American Skaters.
It would appear that Shore’s biggest attributes are his intelligence and hockey sense. Most observers believe that Shore has an above average offensive skill set including playmaking and goal scoring capability. Shore will move on to face tougher competition at the NCAA level next season and how he handles this adjustment will tell us a lot about his future pro potential. For now the scouts must assess if his domination of lower levels will translate to the big stage.
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