Blueshirts Re-Sign Brandon Prust

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The New York Rangers have re-signed restricted free agent forward Brandon Prust to a two-year deal worth $800,000 per year according to Larry Brooks on twitter. Prust, age 26, recorded four goals and five assists in 26 games played with the Rangers after he was acquired prior to the trade deadline in a swap with the Calgary Flames. He quickly became a spark plug in the lineup and played a part into transforming head coach John Tortorella into a four-line coach; something Torts has never been in his entire career.

I am a big fan of Prust's and not only for the reasons listed above. In his first game as a Ranger, Prust dropped the gloves in defense of a teammate that was run along the boards by a player of the opposition. So Prust, extremely unfamiliar with his new teammates, was already defending them by putting his body at stake. That is heart and soul folks and those are the type of players that every successful team has on their roster. It is called a role player, and when it comes to roles, Pruster wears several hats.

The left winger, along with center Artem Anisimov, was an offensive force on that fourth forward unit towards the end of the 2009-10 season. I always looked at him as an improvement from just an enforcer, because if the coach so chooses, Prust most certainly can play on the third line. He can score goals around the net and is not a half bad passer.

I already can see the Blueshirts' fourth line next season being Prust on the left, Brian Boyle up the middle, and newly acquired scrapper Derek Boogaard on the right. Prust may not have size like his two linemates, but he has the will and the heart. I have a feeling I will be seeing a few Prust jerseys at Madison Square Garden next season. He is fan favorite material.