After sitting out the entirety of the 2016-17 season, veteran winger Brandon Prust will reportedly get a shot at returning to the NHL. The 33-year-old forward has been offered a professional tryout with the Los Angeles Kings, according to Kings insider Jon Rosen.
Prust has 486 NHL games on his resume – plus another 53 in the post-season – after serving time with the then-Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and most recently, the Vancouver Canucks.
The hard-hitting forward missed all of last season after being unable to secure an NHL contract, instead spending 29 games with Germany’s Nuremberg Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers.
Prior to that brief stint in Europe, the London, Ontario native attempted a similar NHL comeback last October, skating with the Toronto Maple Leafs for an extended tryout that never progressed to a full-time spot.
“They didn’t have room,” said Prust to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox in June. “They kept a lot of rookies, but I think I made a good impression where they wanted me to stick around and see what happens. I was waiting for a couple of months.”
While the hometown comeback didn’t pan out, Prust’s drive to claw his way back to the big leagues didn’t wilt.
“You have a point to prove. It makes you hungrier,” Prust told Fox. “I’m trying to do what I did last year: get a tryout, have a good camp.”
He’ll have a fair shot with the Kings, a club that has shown no hesitation to send veteran names over the boards. Los Angeles currently houses eight regular roster players over the age of 30, including 35-year-old winger Michael Cammalleri, who signed a one-year deal with the team on July 1.
[relatedlinks]
