St. Louis Blues Apparent Nate Prosser Signing Signals More Wheel Spinning
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues were apparently not quite done looking at the free agent market. Their recent toe dip into those waters sends an odd shiver up the spine though.
The St. Louis Blues continue to be somewhat of a conundrum when it comes to player development. They continually say one thing in regards to their potential lineups and then do another.
Such is the case with their most recent signing. The Blues have apparently signed defenseman Nate Prosser to a two-way, two-year contract according to multiple sources, including Jeremy Rutherford.
Sounds like Blues have signed Wild D-man Nate Prosser to a 2-way contract. He spent 2014 camp with STL before Wild reclaimed him on waivers.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 2, 2017
The contract, in and of itself (assuming this deal does not fall through since it is not “official”) is not bad. It gives the Blues the freedom to send him down to the minors. It also gives the Blues financial freedom as they will only have to pay Prosser an AHL salary if he is sent down, since one-way deals require you to pay them their NHL salary if you send them down.
The confusing part is what they intend to do with their prospects. We’ve been hearing all summer about Jake Walman, Vince Dunn and Jordan Schmaltz.
At one point, general manager Doug Armstrong was all but guaranteeing one or more of those guys would make the Blues squad this fall. So why the sudden addition of a defender that nobody was clamoring for?
The Blues don’t currently have their own AHL affiliate, so the idea that he could mentor younger players won’t work this season. The Blues do not even know which AHL team they’d be sending Prosser to given their current situation.
You do need depth in today’s NHL. Especially in recent times, Robert Bortuzzo and Carl Gunnarsson have proven to be a little injury prone. So, having an extra body is never a bad thing.
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It is just a confusing thing at this stage. If the intention is to finally let younger players crack the lineup and if your evaluation of those guys is very high, it just comes off as a sign of distrust. Are those prospects not progressing as much as hoped? Are the Blues still stuck with the Ken Hitchcock approach that favors veterans?
Can you even consider Prosser a veteran when he’s played an average of 46 games over the last six seasons? You’d basically be replacing Bortuzzo with Bortuzzo-lite.
Forgive me for being negative about this signing, but it just makes me scratch my head. In reality Prosser will probably be in the minors a good deal and rotate in and out with whichever current prospect does crack the team. The prospect will only be the seventh defenseman anyway, so playing time would be limited in the first place.
It is not the first time the Blues kicked the tires on Prosser. As Rutherford pointed out, the Blues gave him a whirl back in 2014 before the Wild took him back when placed on waivers.
His time in Minnesota also makes him very familiar with Mike Yeo’s system. Prosser’s best offensive seasons came when Yeo was there. That does not make him an offensive weapon though. His career high is 12 points and when his focus became offensive, his +/- rating plummeted to -17.
Again, I have no problem with Prosser himself. He is what he is and he’s not going to be the missing piece for the Blues. He’s simply a more veteran presence that has been through the grind.
The confusing part is the continual spinning of wheels by the front office. They say it’s time for the younger guys to finally step up and then make minimal spots open on the roster with signings like these.
The other odd thing about this deal is the lack of finality to it. Currently it is not confirmed, only rumored. Obviously if the Blues beat writer feels comfortable discussing it, it is likely to be finalized, but the agent says it is official and yet the team has not declared it yet. Seems like a European soccer deal.
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Maybe the idea is to push the kids even harder mentally if they think spots are limited. The opposite could also be true if they believe management has already decided to keep vets on the bench instead.
Training camp will be very important this year, not that it isn’t every year. The young defenders better really step it up, otherwise we’ll be seeing more of these sorts of third-line defenders.