The latest roster conundrum in town involves one of, if not the most inconsequential player in this lineup. It’s hard to say with any degree of certainty what is happening behind the scenes without making baseless assumptions, but from what most can gather, Jake Virtanen’s roster spot was sacrificed against the New York Rangers to appease Brandon Prust, who would be upset by not getting the opportunity to play his second-last team.
Nevermind the fact that Prust has been playing them regularly as a member of the Montreal Canadiens for the last three years, but this is apparently still a big deal. The fires were stoked when it was suggested that sitting Prust for this game would “disrupt the room” or something.
So what exactly do you do with the apparently touchy Prust?

From Last Week

Last week I asked what kind of roster juggling you would do to get the Canucks at the 23 player limit on their active roster. Or rather, what ideas you’d have to get the most out of the available pieces. You didn’t disappoint…
Goon:
With Sutter coming back, the obvious first choices to go down are Cracknell and Vey. I think Vey’s looked all right since coming back from Utica, and probably has more to offer than Cracknell, so I’d send Cracknell down and rotate Vey in and out of the lineup based on his performance and who the team is facing.
The Canucks have made it clear they won’t do this, but I would also send Virtanen back to Junior. He was good against Florida, but he’s shown over the past couple months that he’s not ready for the NHL, and the Canucks have three much more deserving prospects in the AHL right now (Shinkaruk, Grenier, Gaunce) who have all earned time with the team. Gifting a player NHL minutes by virtue of his draft position rather than his performance isn’t a good way to develop prospects.
On defence, if everyone’s healthy I think you have to roll with the guys on one-way deals – Edler/Tanev/Hamhuis, obviously, then Sbisa/Weber/Bartkowski and Hutton as your seventh. Send Biega and Pedan back to the AHL to get lots of playing time, and bring them back to the lineup when the Canucks ship one or two out at the deadline or injuries (inevitably) strike again.
Mark:
First thing, I’d be looking to deal Vrbata. He might not be worth a ton, but I think the league’s aware he’s still got good years left in him. If you need to, package him together with Dorsett and/or Weber for a young guy with potential and a draft pick or two.
I like the youth movement and I don’t think Vrbata or Dorsett have much more to add to this team. Weber’s shown flashes, but it’s doubtful his offensive upside will ever counterbalance his defensive downside.
Unlike the previous poster, I don’t think we should move Vey or Cracknell to Utica. Vey’s been doing pretty well lately so I doubt he’d clear waivers and Cracknell’s a good option for a depth centre (which this team desperately needs!) In fact, he might be the best option for a fourth-line centre we have on the team right now.
PB:
Sedin-Sedin-Hansen Horvat-Baertschi-Vrbata Sutter-Burrows-Dorsett McCann/Vey-Etem-Prust
Edler-Tanev Hutton-Sbisa Biega-Hamhuis
I’d send Weber and Cracknell to the minors, Bartkowski would be the 7th defensemen though probably rotating with Biega, I would send Virtanen to juniors but since the Canucks probably won’t do that I’d rotate him with McCann and Vey. I would try my very hardest to trade Vrbata (who you’d get something for), Burrows (who you’d likely have to eat salary for), and Prust (who you could likely sell to some contender for the 5th we rented him for, though knowing JB however they will likely resign Prust which would be a waste of money and space)
I still don’t know how long Hansen is injured for and it doesn’t sound like Sutter and Sbisa would play till the end of the trip so we probably have 3-4 more games with the lineup that beat FLA. Since it’s unlikely we are going to actually trade all of those vets we will likely end up with (I think/hope):
Skilled scoring line (Sedins-Hansen) Secondary scoring line (Horvat-Baertschi-Virtanen/Vrbata) Shutdown d line (Sutter-Burrows/Dorsett-Prust) Energy/skill fourth line (Vey, McCann, Etem)
You could easily shelter that fourth line, have speed skill and play McCann as the shooter, Etem as the crasher, Vey as the passer. We could sell it to WD as Tiger Beat 2016.
Smyl and Snepts:
There have to be some trades coming in the near future as trying to waive even mediocre players such as Weber, Bartkowski, Cracknell or Vey would still likely result in them being picked up and assets lost for nothing. Same as Higgins. Better to get something for them than nothing even if the something is a low draft pick.