Shane Bowers (ice hockey)

Shane Bowers
Born	(1999-07-30) July 30, 1999 (age 24) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams	New Jersey Devils Utica Comets  (AHL) Colorado Avalanche
NHL draft	28th overall, 2017 Ottawa Senators
Playing career	2019–present

Shane Bowers (born July 30, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bowers was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He has also played for the Colorado Avalanche.

Playing career

Amateur

Bowers, a Herring Cove native, ^[1] first played in Halifax, Nova Scotia as a standout at the Bantam level for the Bubba Ray's Gulls before playing in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League with the Halifax McDonald's.

In the 2014–15 season, Bowers was selected as the NSMMHL's MVP, registering most goals and points in both the regular and post-season. Bowers twice turned down opportunities to play in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) for a major junior ice hockey team in his native Canada after he was selected in consecutive Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Drafts by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Saint John Sea Dogs. He opted to instead play in the United States, after he was selected 38th overall by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the 2015 United States Hockey League Futures Draft. ^[2]

Joining the Black Hawks for the 2015–16 season, Bowers showed his two-way potential in contributing with 15 goals and 33 points, leading all in 56 games, leading all Waterloo rookies to earn a selection to the All-Rookie Second Team. In returning for his second season with Waterloo in 2016–17, Bowers announced his intention on pursuing a collegiate career, committing to Boston University of the Hockey East. ^[3] In playing on the Black Hawks' top line, Bowers improved his season totals finishing 10th in the league scoring in producing 22 goals, 29 assists for 51 points in 60 games. He earned the USHL Third All-Star Team honors, however Waterloo was unable to advance past the Western Conference finals in a 3-2 series defeat against the Sioux City Musketeers. ^[4]

Approaching the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Bowers was the 16th-ranked North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau before being selected 28th overall in the first round by the Ottawa Senators. ^[5] In joining the Boston Terriers as a freshman for the 2017–18 season, Bowers made his collegiate debut, scoring a goal against Union College on September 30, 2017. He scored in his first three NCAA games, including his first multi-goal game against Minnesota State University on October 14, 2017. ^[6]

On November 5, 2017, Bowers' NHL rights were included by the Senators in a blockbuster three-way deal, heading to Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Matt Duchene. ^[7] In continuing with the Terriers, Bowers appeared in all 40 games and finished third on the team with 32 points and second in goals with 17. Bowers had a team-best plus-16 rating and on March 14, 2018, Bowers and teammate Brady Tkachuk were selected to the Hockey East Rookie Team. ^{[8] [9]} Bowers also received an honourable mention for the Hockey East all-star squads, but was not selected for those teams. ^[8]

In the 2018–19 season, Bowers returned for his sophomore season with the Terriers. Under the reign of new head coach Albie O'Connell, Boston struggled to replicate their previous seasons success, failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Bowers playing in a second-line role finished third on the team with 11 goals and fourth in scoring with 21 points in 37 games.

Professional

After two seasons with Boston University, Bowers opted to conclude his collegiate career, turning pro in signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche on March 29, 2019. ^[10] He was immediately signed by the Avalanche's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, on an amateur try-out contract in their bid for a playoff berth. ^[11]

During the 2022–23 season, Bowers made his NHL debut with the Avalanche on November 10, 2022, against the Nashville Predators. However, he suffered an injury and had to leave the game after less than two minutes of ice time. ^[12] On December 14, 2022, in returning from injury he was re-assigned to continue with the Colorado Eagles. ^[13] Bowers added 14 points through 37 games with the Eagles before he was traded by the Avalanche to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Keith Kinkaid on February 25, 2023. ^{[14] [15]} Assigned directly to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, Bowers played out the remainder of the season in posting 3 goals and 7 points through 20 regular season games.

As an impending restricted free agent, Bowers brief tenure with the Bruins ended after he was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Reilly Walsh on June 26, 2023. ^[16] He was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Devils for the 2023–24 season on June 29, 2023. ^[17] Bowers failed to make the Devils out of training camp and was placed on waivers for the purposes of being assigned to the Devils AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. ^[18] On January 9, 2024, Bowers was recalled from Utica, ^[19] playing in three games with the Devils before being returned to the AHL after Timo Meier returned from injury. ^[20] After his return to Utica, Bowers missed most of February and March with an injury. In his second game after returning to the Comets' lineup, on March 30, 2024, Bowers registered two goals and four points in a 4–3 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds. ^[21] He was recalled again by New Jersey on April 7 ^[22] and played in five games with the Devils before being returned to Utica on April 16 to finish the season. ^[23] In 36 games with Utica, Bowers scored six goals and eight points in 38 games. ^[24]

On April 30, 2024, Bowers was re-signed by the Devils to a two-year, two-way contract extension. ^[24]

International play

Bowers made his international debut, captaining Canada Black at the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge before playing at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, scoring one goal in four appearances for Canada junior team. ^[25]

During his sophomore season with the Terriers, Bowers was selected to participate for Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championships. ^[26] Chosen for his responsible two-way game, Bowers played as centre on the third line registering two assists in five games before suffering a shock elimination in a 2–1 overtime loss to Finland junior team in the quarterfinals on January 2, 2019, to place sixth. ^[27]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2014–15	Halifax McDonald's	NSMMHL		34	23	29	52	24		17	15	18	33	14
2015–16	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL		56	15	18	33	16		9	0	2	2	0
2016–17	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL		60	22	29	51	20		6	2	1	3	2
2017–18	Boston University	HE		40	17	15	32	14		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Boston University	HE		37	11	10	21	25		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Colorado Eagles	AHL		4	0	0	0	2		4	0	1	1	0
2019–20	Colorado Eagles	AHL		48	10	17	27	14		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Colorado Eagles	AHL		28	7	2	9	10		—	—	—	—	—
2021–22	Colorado Eagles	AHL		37	6	3	9	12		4	1	3	4	0
2022–23	Colorado Eagles	AHL		37	4	10	14	12		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	Providence Bruins	AHL		20	4	3	7	4		3	0	0	0	4
2023–24	Utica Comets	AHL		43	10	4	14	8		—	—	—	—	—
2023–24	New Jersey Devils	NHL		8	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				9	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2015	Canada Black	U17	8th		5	0	0	0	0
2016	Canada	IH18	5th		4	1	0	1	0
2019	Canada	WJC	6th		5	0	2	2	2
Junior totals					14	1	2	3	2

Awards and honours

Award	Year	Ref
NSMMHL
MVP	2015
USHL
All-Rookie Second Team	2016
Third All-Star Team	2017
College
HE All-Rookie Team	2018	[8]

References

1. Palov, Willy. "Nova Scotia's Shane Bowers makes bittersweet NHL debut with Colorado Avalanche". SaltWire. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
2. "Bowers a big-time prospect". Waterloo Black Hawks. June 23, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
3. Bowers, Shane [@shanebowers15] (October 27, 2016). "Excited to join Boston University" (Tweet). Retrieved October 28, 2016– via Twitter.
4. "2017 NHL Draft Profile: Shane Bowers". Colorado Avalanche. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017– via NHL.com.
5. Garrioch, Bruce (June 23, 2017). "Senators take centre Shane Bowers with first-round pick in NHL draft". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
6. "Shane Bowers college statistics". USCHO.com. February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
7. "Ottawa Senators acquire centre Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche". Ottawa Senators. November 5, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2018– via NHL.com.
8. "Six Terriers Earn Hockey East Year-End Honors". goterriers.com. March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
9. "Hockey East announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team, seven individual awards". uscho.com. March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
10. "Avalanche signs Shane Bowers". Colorado Avalanche. March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019– via NHL.com.
11. "Avalanche signs Shane Bowers, he signs ATO with Eagles". Colorado Eagles. March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
12. "Next man up for the Avalanche". milehighhockey.com. November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
13. Jones, Craig (December 15, 2022). "Avalanche's Shane Bowers Future on the Line Back in AHL". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
14. "Bruins acquire Shane Bowers from Avalanche". Boston Bruins. February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023– via NHL.com.
15. "Bowers getting a chance to reset with Bruins". American Hockey League. March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
16. "Bowers acquired by Devils". New Jersey Devils. June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023– via NHL.com.
17. "Bowers signs with Devils". New Jersey Devils. June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023– via NHL.com.
18. "Devils' Shane Bowers: Lands on waivers". CBS Sports. October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
19. Flannery, Kristy (January 9, 2024). "Devils' Ruff Shares Reasons Behind Shane Bowers Recall From Utica". The Hockey News. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
20. Bogart, Catherine (January 17, 2024). "Meier Activated From IR, Bowers Reassigned". New Jersey Devils. Retrieved January 20, 2024– via NHL.com.
21. Jones, Steve (March 30, 2024). "Shane Bowers' four-point night includes game winner for Utica Comets at home on Saturday". Rome Daily Sentinel. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
22. "Devils' Shane Bowers: Recalled from AHL". CBS Sports. April 7, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
23. "Devils' Shane Bowers: Sent down to minors". CBS Sports. April 16, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
24. "Bowers signs two-year contract". New Jersey Devils. April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024– via NHL.com.
25. "Bowers, Shane Profile". NHL.com. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
26. Williams, Rob (December 18, 2018). "Get to know the players who will represent Canada at 2019 World Juniors". The Daily Hive. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
27. "Finland 2, Canada 1 (OT)" (PDF). IIHF. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Logan Brown	Ottawa Senators first round draft pick 2017	Succeeded by Brady Tkachuk