The Canucks acquired Brandon Prust to lessen the cumbersome load placed solely on Derek Dorsett’s shoulders as team pugilist. It can be a taxing role to fill and all the more so when done by one’s self.
By chance they’ve also stumbled upon a valuable bottom-six piece that can contribute to the defensive health of this franchise in a prescribed fourth line role. At 31 years old, it seems highly unlikely that Prust can help to move the needle for Vancouver as they transition ever-so-slowly in their not-quite-rebuild. Prust can, however, help them towards their goal of competing throughout the process and mentoring the oncoming swarth of young talent.
At the very worst, Prust is an experienced grinder, with two-way chops on an expiring contract that can be flipped at the deadline for futures.
The Origin
Prust is what you might call a late bloomer. It wasn’t until his age 24 season that Prust broke into the NHL as a full-time player, splitting time between the Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes. This, a full seven years after being taken 70th overall, in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, by the Flames. There’s a lessen about patience in there somewhere, I am sure.
A cursory glance at Prust’s counting stats indicates he was a fairly one dimensional player. A face puncher, if you will. Even so, the underlying possession metrics from these formative years paint the picture of a defensively sound player whose value greatly exceeded his role – even if very few of us had acclimated to this approach of player evaluation at the time.
Much of these years was spent bouncing back between Calgary and just about everywhere else. Perhaps he wasn’t that well traveled, but Prust was sent from Calgary to Phoenix, then back again, before being shipped to the New York Rangers. With the latter of those three clubs Prust found himself as a bona fide NHL player, sliding between the third and fourth line whenever necessary. Prust’s tour with the Rangers landed him a hefty pay day in free agency with the Montreal Canadiens – who were all too eager to hand Prust a four year deal, valued at $10-million.
Prust played out three of these campaigns, performing more-or-less at dollar value as the clubs sole sandpaper component. With just one year left on his contract, the Habs shipped Prust to Vancouver in exchange for Zack Kassian and their fifth round selection in the 2016 draft.
Prompting this great little nugget…
Career Statistics

What to Expect in 2015-16
One would expect Prust to spend the majority of this season the Canucks fourth line, on Linden Vey’s left flank, opposite Dorsett. Given the historically strong defensive play of Dorsett and Prust, along with the budding two-way game of Vey, this line looks to contribute primarily from their own end.
Assuming Willie Desjardins holds true to form, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Prust is given the occasional rep on the third line. Or the power play as a net front presence, for that matter. Prust’s primary use on special teams, though, will be as a penalty killer. Prust has performed admirably as a penalty killer for the majority of the year, which leads me to believe he’ll likely slot into the first or second unit.
Milestones
- Punched a lot of faces, 2006 – 20??