The Saskatchewan Rush have signed Austin Shanks to a two-year contract.
The 30-year-old is one of the most dynamic forwards in the National Lacrosse League. He's reunited with his 2013 Minto Cup winning teammates, Ryan Keenan and Matt Hossack.
“We are really happy to add Austin Shanks to the Rush offence. He’s been the model of consistency throughout his years in the NLL and is coming off a career season. He brings a little bit of everything on the offensive end,” general manager Derek Keenan, who coached Shanks with the Whitby Junior A Warriors, said in a statement. "He’s a very good finisher with excellent mid-range shooting abilities and a skilled playmaker. I don’t think a team can ever have too much of that skill set."
Over the course of his six seasons in the NLL, the Courtice, Ontario native has accumulated 147 goals and 357 points in 90 combined regular season and playoff games. Last season, Shanks was fifth out of all right-handed forwards with 62 assists, a career high for the five-foot-nine, 180-pound righty.
Shanks' ties to Whitby run deep. During the summer in Ontario, he was fifth in Major Series Lacrosse scoring with 31 goals in 12 games for Brooklin L.C. at the Senior A level. When he's not playing lacrosse, the Ohio State University graduate is a firefighter.
Saskatchewan now has right-handed forwards in Shanks, Robert Church, Patrick Dodds, Mike Triolo and Nathaniel Kozevnikov all under contract for the upcoming season, with NCAA star, PLL attackman and last year’s second round pick Josh Zawada still unsigned.
