Rangers Re-Sign Prust, Former NYR Higgins/Parrenteau Find New Jobs

“In Prust we trust…”

Yesterday Glen Sather and the New York Rangers hired the man considered to be the best fighter in the NHL, Derek Boogard. Today the Rangers re-sign the player with the 3rd most fights in the league last season, and a player who they won the trade with Calgary because of, Brandon Prust. The man is an absolute perfect fourth liner for any NHL team, and he’s in New York for at least the next two seasons, earning $800,000 per year, which is half the price of Boogard, and half the term. Prust is a very similar player to Sean Avery, except with a bit less scoring prowess, and a punch to insult ratio that falls on the punching side of things. So far Sather has signed Biron, Boogard, Christensen, Prospal, Prust, and Stepan, and only one of which could be considered a player that’s being overpaid.

The New York Islanders decided to join in on the free agency fun today. They signed a pair of d-men, Mark Eaton and Milan “Juice” Jurcina. Both players had the pleasure of sharing the ice with the NHL’s poster boys (Crosby/Ovechkin), and neither really stands out. Eaton is certainly more offensively gifted, and has a longer contract (2 yr, 2.5 per), while Jurcina is looking at $1 million for one year. Former New York Ranger, but really Hartford Wolfpack member, P.A. Parenteau is receiving $600 k for a year on the Island. Not to be outdone by the rest of the Atlantic Division, the Islanders also signed former Tampa Bay goon Zenon Konopka for a year at $1 million.

Former trade chip, Ranger, Flame, and Canadien Christopher Higgins is now apparently a Panther. Florida signed Higgins today for one year at the same rate as the Rangers signed Boogard, $1.65 million. Higgins has always been said to have a bit of a problem with certain controlled substances that one might inhale through their nostrils, and even if that’s not true, he’s only scored 20 goals combined in the last three years. Florida claims that he’ll be one of their top six forwards, which says more about how weak their roster is than it does about how talented Higgins is. Only time will tell if he will regain his scoring touch from early in his career, but if not, at least he has a year to binge on the beach.

More NHL free agency madness to come…