If there鈥檚 one player who I didn鈥檛 expect to be a pleasant surprise this season, it鈥檚 Brandon Prust. I was predisposed to dislike him: he鈥檚 an overpaid, fourth-line grinder, who was literally acquired so that Derek Dorsett wouldn鈥檛 have to fight as often.
His first few games certainly didn鈥檛 endear him to me: apart from his slow-as-molasses skating, he dropped the gloves for a pointless staged fight with Brandon Bollig in the season opener, then fought Clayton Stoner less than two minutes into the game against the Ducks and Andy Andreoff less than three minutes into the game against the Kings.
It was frustrating: Prust had a $2.5 million cap hit and seemed to be doing little more than engage in staged fights and rub shoulders with the rookies.
But then I started to notice that when Prust isn鈥檛 fighting, he has at least one surprising skill: he can pass the puck incredibly well.
That鈥檚 not something fighters and grinders are generally known for. Even the more skilled fighters out there are known more for scoring goals, using their size to get to the net. But Prust can legitimately pass the puck and has excellent vision.
Before his injury, Prust was actually leading the Canucks in assists. That injury, suffered against the Montreal Canadiens after he had tallied two assists in that game, will , which is tough news for Prust, who was just finding his stride after an kept him off the ice until late August.
It鈥檚 also tough news for the Canucks, who could use his playmaking ability on the fourth line, particularly with a goalscorer like Jared McCann centring that fourth line. That may seem odd to say, as Prust has never piled up points, but just look at his assists this season.
First we have Jared McCann鈥檚 first career goal, which I :
Jannik Hansen does most of the work here, but you can鈥檛 overlook Prust鈥檚 smart pivot off the wall and short pass to Hansen that creates the opportunity.
His assist on Adam Cracknell鈥檚 first goal as a Canuck was just plain luck, but take another look:
Prust gets the assist for the shot hitting him and bouncing back to Cracknell, but his little give-and-go pass earlier in the play has its merits, as he has to hook the pass under the swinging stick of Clayton Stoner.
His assist on Cracknell鈥檚 next goal is far better:
That鈥檚 just a great pass and you can tell Jonathan Quick does not expect it at all. He鈥檚 prepared for the fourth-liner to take a hopeful shot, maybe aiming to get a rebound, not to send a cross-ice tape-to-tape pass to Cracknell.
Prust was then held without a point for four games before setting up two Jared McCann goals against Montreal:
Okay, this is pretty lucky. You can鈥檛 say that about McCann鈥檚 second goal, however.
Seriously, look at that pass. LOOK AT THAT PASS. He鈥檚 not even looking at McCann. That鈥檚 a no-look pass completely avoiding P.K. Subban鈥檚 attempted stick-check, finding McCann all alone in the slot. That鈥檚 superb.
Those are just the passes that have led to goals. Prust鈥檚 passing has been on-point all season and it鈥檚 helped the Canucks a lot on the possession front.
While Prust鈥檚 46.15% corsi percentage* doesn鈥檛 look impressive on its own, when you factor in his usage, it鈥檚 surprisingly good. Prust has faced relatively difficult competition while starting predominantly in his own end of the ice.
Any player, given his usage, would likely wind up with a corsi well below 50%. That Prust鈥檚 isn鈥檛 lower, like Dorsett (40.25%), McCann (40.96%), or Cracknell (43.08%) actually says a lot. Every Canuck forward that Prust has played with for at least 15 minutes this season has a better corsi with him than they do without him.
Honestly, it really surprises me that I鈥檓 saying this, but the Canucks are really going to miss Brandon Prust.
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*All statistics from war-on-ice.com
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