Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
A few days ago, Brandon Prust was a good team guy. Maybe not the best player on the ice, but a character guy, the type of guy the Canucks want rubbing shoulders with their impressionable youth in the locker room.
Now? Now Prust is apparently a whiner, a cancer in the room and a terrible example for the Canucks’ rookies, sure to be sent packing at the earliest opportunity.
What in the heck happened?
We don’t really know. That’s key to remember here, as there’s been a lot of speculation, guessing, and jumping to conclusions. Here are the facts, as best as I can suss out:
- The Canucks have a plan for their younger players that includes planned scratches.
- That includes Jake Virtanen, who said earlier in January, “Certain games I’ll sit and get in the gym.”
- Virtanen was scratched against the New York Islanders on Sunday, presumably one of his planned scratches.
- As of Monday, Brandon Prust was going to be scratched for Tuesday’s game against the Rangers so Virtanen could get back in the lineup.
- As of Tuesday, Prust was back in the lineup and Virtanen was scratched for the second game in a row.
- Trevor Linden said some things on the radio that some interpreted as suggesting that Prust was upset about being scratched against the Rangers, who Prust played for 4 years ago. The phrase “delicate dance” was used.
- Prust was noticeably awful in against the Rangers in a game where pretty much all the Canucks were bad. The Canucks got out-shot 11-2 with Prust on the ice and he got benched for most of the third period.
Here’s what we don’t know: we don’t actually know that Prust whined about being scratched. We don’t know that Prust demanded to be played against his former team. We don’t know if this is a point of contention in the Canucks’ locker room or if any of the players on the team even think this is an issue.
But that hasn’t stopped some fans calling for his head and there are plenty of members of the media who aren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“If I'm Jim Benning, that is the last game he plays for me,” said Matt Sekeres.
“I’d be surprised if he’s a Canuck past the All-Star break,” said Iain Macintyre.
“Prust killed a guy,” said Ron Burgundy.
Okay, maybe not that last one. But let’s take a look at what Trevor Linden actually said before we throw Prust under the bus or at least before we drive it back and forth over him.
MS: As we talk about tonight’s game, Jake Virtanen skated late after practice, Trev. It would be a second straight healthy scratch of Jake. In terms of the plan you got for the young man going forward. Multiple scratches in a row: is that part of it? Does that benefit him? Does that benefit the club?
TL: No, I don’t think...it wasn’t the plan. I think we deviated for other reasons. I think that it’s not ideal, obviously. He was a young guy that was playing well, but we’re changing things up tonight and he’ll be back in against Boston. Not ideal, at the same time he’s getting his work in off the ice and he’ll be back in Boston.
...
MS: So the plan deviated with Jake because of…?
TL: Obviously there was some talk about Brandon Prust coming out and being it is his former team, we thought it would be the right thing to have him in. I think that as a coach you want to do the right thing for your room sometimes. So that was the situation today.
MS: Did Willie change his mind after he saw the way Brandon handled it?
TL: No, I think it was just in retrospect you have other thoughts, maybe you go down a certain path and you go back. I think it’s a delicate dance with the coach and his group and his room and maybe the ideas that we may have, so we try to manage those things and it’s not easy every night.
As much as you may want to read into Linden’s comments, he never said that Prust asked to be put back into the lineup or that he complained at all. And nothing has come out since that suggests Prust made a fuss.
And that "delicate dance" quote that caused all the ruckus seems to have been misinterpreted. The “delicate dance” is likely more about the relationship between management and the coach than some sort of sensitive situation within the room itself. What does seem clear is that Linden and Benning wanted Virtanen in the lineup, but Desjardins made the call to go with Prust, perhaps liking what he saw out of him in the morning skate or because he wanted someone to hug Tanner Glass if the situation came up.
Linden and Benning don't want to be overly involved in their coach's decisions, but obviously want to have a say when it comes to the development of their rookies. It's a delicate dance making sure the ideas that management have about who should be playing are heard without compromising the coach's control of the room. Using that quote to suggest that Prust himself was "delicate" about being a healthy scratch is a misinterpretation.
Even still, Prust may want to lay low for a little while. Now is not the time to make a fuss. There’s a full-fledged youth movement happening in Vancouver and it may be more than just a delicate dance for any veterans that might be seen as standing in the way.
Chris Higgins, who is a vastly superior player to Prust even though they have the exact same cap hit, got publicly shopped for a trade, then put on waivers and sent to Utica, simply because he’s taking a roster spot that could be filled by a younger player.
If Prust is preventing a young player brimming with potential from getting into the lineup, then he might not be on the roster for very long.
In what is likely a completely unrelated move, the Canucks signed 23-year-old Mike Zalewski to a one-year deal and called him up from Utica. Zalewski has played at both centre and wing and has taken a step forward with the Comets recently, centring the top line since Linden Vey got called up to Vancouver.
Zalewski could step right into the Canucks lineup on the fourth line and is 8 years younger than Prust and makes nearly $2 million less than Prust. I think you can see where I’m going with this.
Sure enough, the lines for the morning skate see both Prust and Adam Cracknell on the sidelines, as Zalewski and Virtanen will be on the fourth line against Boston.
Don't rock the boat, Prust, or you might be as outdated as Anchorman references.
