The inevitable happened this morning, as Bob Mckenzie from TSN reported that Canucks forward Brandon Prust was placed on waivers. This move was unavoidable with Henrik Sedin likely returning to action on Thursday, and Dan Hamhuis set to return within the next week or two.

It’s safe to assume that the Canucks tried to find a trade partner for Prust, but were unable to find someone willing to take him and his salary. Which follows the Canucks trying to find a trade partner for Chris Higgins and being unable to do so. If Prust does clear waivers, he will likely be assigned to Utica and the Canucks will receive some cap relief (in the form of $950,000 prorated).

Brandon Prust came to Vancouver in July for Zack Kassian and a 2016 5th round pick, and it has become clear that the Canucks were mostly interested in moving Kassian to another team. Prust started the season off very well with 5 assists in his first 9 games with the Canucks, but he suffered an ankle injury in late October and then never seemed to recover. At the time of the deal, many people felt that Prust was redundant with Derek Dorsett already in the fold, and that proved to be very true once the Canucks fully embraced the youth movement. Playing Jake Virtanen over Prust gave the Canucks more speed and excitement, as it was clear that Virtanen wants to stay in the lineup over the veteran winger.

Prust was a slower, less effective and recently a frustrated version of his old self who just couldn’t find his place after his injury. With Higgins and now Prust, the Canucks have shown this year that if a veteran player is deemed to be no longer useful in their lineup, they aren’t afraid to send them to Utica and ‘eat their salary.

Although Prust will likely clear waivers and be assigned to the minors, it doesn’t mean that he is no longer a tradeable asset. A team looking for depth during a playoff run, may find him to be an attractive option as he will have already cleared waivers and can be assigned to their minors until the end of the year. It is a good sign that the Canucks didn’t retain salary on a deal just to get rid of Prust. They are currently retaining salary on Luongo’s contract, so by not retaining salary to dump Prust, they are still able to retain salary on two more players in a future transaction.

Prust’s time as a Canuck may be short, but it will likely be remembered for his spear on Brad Marchand:

Brandon Prust’s last game as a part of the Vancouver Canucks was against the New York Rangers, where after he was told that he wasn’t going to be in the lineup, he put up a ‘fuss’. He dressed for the game, and was largely ineffective and then hasn’t played since. Thus, I think it’s clear why Prust eventually made his way to the waiver wire.