So that was pretty much the last tally of Vinny Prospal as a New York Ranger. Now that he has signed a 1 year 1.75 million dollar deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the question has to be asked. What kind of fantasy impact can he make?
Here is the major red flag that we have honestly.
| 2011/02/03 | Missed 53 games (right knee surgery). |
|---|---|
| 2011/02/01 | Right knee surgery, day-to-day. |
| 2010/10/06 | Right knee surgery, injured reserve. |
Sorry but it rings true here. The knee injury that seemed only to be 6-8 weeks turned into nearly four months. At the age of 36, Prospal has another red flag and that of course would be his age. So combine the knee injury with the age and see why there is a little bit of trepidation here? Prospal already was heading a bit south to a point health wise but the knee may have cemented it according to some. That is why Columbus only had to pay as little as they did for a guy who does average just about a point a game when 100%.
Let’s take that dreaded look at his numbers to see if we can uncover anything else (thanks once again to Hockey Reference).
| Yr | Tm | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | ATO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-02 | TBL | 81 | 18 | 37 | 55 | -11 | 38 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 166 | 17:31 |
| 02-03 | TBL | 80 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 9 | 53 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 134 | 18:39 |
| 03-04 | MDA | 82 | 19 | 35 | 54 | -9 | 54 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 185 | 18:37 |
| 05-06 | TBL | 81 | 25 | 55 | 80 | -3 | 50 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 236 | 19:10 |
| 06-07 | TBL | 82 | 14 | 41 | 55 | -24 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 219 | 19:04 |
| 07-08 | TOT | 80 | 33 | 38 | 71 | 0 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 215 | 19:22 |
| 07-08 | TBL | 62 | 29 | 28 | 57 | -7 | 39 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 175 | 19:60 |
| 07-08 | PHI | 18 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 17:15 |
| 08-09 | TBL | 82 | 19 | 26 | 45 | -20 | 52 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 194 | 17:41 |
| 09-10 | NYR | 75 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 8 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 180 | 20:06 |
| 10-11 | NYR | 29 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 15:20 | |
| Car | 978 | 227 | 453 | 680 | -49 | 513 | 72 | 1 | 32 | 2167 | 17:37 |
Well the problem with all the nice numbers is this, there are some bad ones too in the second half of Prospal’s career. Think of what Prospal has been surrounded by in his career as well. There was Gaborik, St. Louis, Lecavalier, etc…etc. Now he does bring some pretty considerable skill to the table but again this is not the prime of his career. The days of 0.99 points per game are over but Prospal was on pace for 26 goals last year which would have been very good along with 64 points.
Clearly he was not the same player when he returned. One playoff goal in five games against Washington was not without opportunities. Vinny Prospal could not finish or set up quite like he used to. Was it the knee taking its toll again or was it something else? Prospal was never a clutch goal scorer but the no game winning goals last season was a major concern at least to me. Something just seemed off and it was not just the knee. It became time to start to ponder whether Prospal was even Top 6 Forward worthy on teams and then how he related to fantasy teams as well.
Granted Prospal is a very hard worker and tenaciously battled back to get in the Rangers’ lineup but at what price did his cost his long term prospects? Well teams passed, passed, and passed on him before Columbus gave him a shot and that was only after Kristian Huselius went down with a serious torn pectoral muscle that has him sidelined maybe till January.
How Prospal fits with Rick Nash and Jeff Carter is going to go a long way and how his first half of the season goes at least until Huselius gets back. If he can return to his form from a couple years back then Huselius may be bumped down to the second line. If not, Prospal may slide to the second line and beyond. The reality is Columbus has nothing to lose and most fantasy owners do not have much to lose on Prospal. He is a productive player on a downward slide of his career. The law of diminishing returns of hockey players states as such. Most players exhibit this and some do not. It does not seem Prospal is an exception to this.
What will happen with Prospal this season? The problem is he has to gel with his new linemates and very quickly. The answers are not very clear here for fantasy owners but we will try our best to give some upside and downside.
Vinny Prospal is going to have a pretty good first third of the season. As a matter of fact, he may just nab 25 points in the 30 games or so that Huselius misses. Will that be enough to give him first line time on a full time basis? Somehow I think Huselius will get his role back and Prospal will begin to regress slowly and may or may not get hurt. Though he will have a productive season…45-50 points may be about the high upside if the current scenarios play out.
However if Huselius has a setback then all bets are off. A full season on the first line could net Prospal as many as 65-70 points so come Thanksgiving and Christmas, keep an eye on the injury situations in Columbus. This could get quite murky in the months to come. Good luck fantasy owners and as always, let us have it via Twitter. Do not forget to bring the heat for the coolest game on Earth.
