News: Rangers Re-Sign Vinny Prospal
Update:7:18PM:
Press release making this official is after the jump
Update:6:33PM:
Quotes from Glen Sather’s conference call at Rangers Report courtesy of Rick Carpiniello
…I tried calling into it but my blackberry wouldn’t cooperate. Got the info for it minutes after I left work and calling from the street without anything to write on or record didn’t seem like a good idea.
Update:5:22PM:
Cap Geek says that the Rangers have about $8.6 million in cap space right now after the Prospal signing.
…Expect Aaron Voros to be sent down also to clear another million
Update:5:19PM:
Larry Brooks tweets that Prospal will have a base salary of $1 million and up to $1.1 million in bonuses.
…Its an over-35 contract, and I believe that the bonuses will count towards next years cap. Is that correct? Some of this cap stuff makes my head spin.
Update:5:14PM:
Pierre LeBrun says that it will be a one year deal with bonuses.
…Perfect. Incentives are key, I wish all contracts could be like them. This way he needs to continue to play hard to get his money. A good deal
Original Post:
According to Darren Dreger the Rangers are close to re-signing Vinny Prospal
…As was reported earlier. This gives the Rangers more offensive depth but essentially the same cast of characters as last season, plus Mats Zuccarelo Asan.
But, with limited salary cap space and limited choices, this is better than the Rangers going after a Matthew Lombardi who will probably cost more and not perform as well.
Alex Frolov maybe, below, but this is probably the best they could do. Pre-Knee injury he was great for the Rangers
New York, July 1, 2010 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Vinny Prospal on a new contract.
Prospal has reached the 20-goal mark five times, including a career-high 33 goals in 2007-08, and has recorded two career hat tricks. He has also eclipsed the 70-point plateau three times, and has surpassed 900 career NHL games, 200 career goals, 400 career assists and 600 career points.
Last season, Prospal registered 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points, along with 32 penalty minutes in 75 games in his first season with the Rangers. He ranked second on the team in several scoring categories, including assists, points, power play assists (13), even strength goals (13) and home goals (13), and tied for second in goals, third in power play goals (six), and ranked fourth in power play points (19). He also established a career-high in average icetime (20:06). Named Alternate Captain on November 3, Prospal was selected as the co-recipient of the John Halligan Good Guy Award for cooperation with the media. He made his Rangers debut in the season-opener on October 2 at Pittsburgh, and notched his first point as a Blueshirt, and 600th career point, with a goal in his home debut on October 3 vs. Ottawa. Prospal ranked second on the team with 15 multi-point performances, including his seventh-career four-point effort on February 4 vs. Washington (two goals and two assists). He reached the 20-goal mark for the fifth time in his career on April 7 vs. Toronto (one goal and one assist), and surpassed the 50-point plateau for the eighth time on March 12 at Atlanta (two goals and one assist). On February 10 vs. Nashville, Prospal recorded a career-high, nine shots, marking the most shots on goal by a Ranger since Scott Gomez registered nine shots on October 25, 2008 vs. Pittsburgh. The 13-year veteran registered an assist while skating in his 900th NHL game on November 28 at Pittsburgh, and he notched his 200th career goal on October 14 vs. Los Angeles (two goals and one assist).
The 6-2, 198-pounder has skated in 949 regular season contests with the Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Ducks, recording 218 goals and 439 assists for 657 points, along with 505 penalty minutes. Prospal has skated in 80 or more games in seven of the last eight seasons. He recorded his 400th NHL assist on March 7, 2008 vs. Carolina. In 2007-08, he established career-highs in goals (33) and game-winning goals (five), and tied his career-highs in games played (82) and power play goals (10). He led Philadelphia in goals, and ranked second on the team in shots (215), and third in points (71) and assists (38). He also tied for third on the club in power play goals and game-winning goals.
His most productive season was in 2005-06, when he registered a career-best 80 points (25 goals and 55 points) with Tampa Bay. He also established career-highs in shots (236), power play goals (10) and multi-point games (24). Prospal tied the Lightning record for longest point streak, recording a point in 13 consecutive games from October 26 to November 20 (eight goals and 13 assists).
In post-season play, Prospal has registered nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points, along with 26 penalty minutes in 60 contests with Philadelphia, Ottawa and Tampa Bay. He established career-highs in games played (17), assists (10) and points (13) during the 2008 Playoffs, helping the Flyers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. His 10 assists led Philadelphia, while his 13 points ranked fourth on the team.
Internationally, Prospal has represented the Czech Republic in several tournaments, including the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. He tied for the team lead in goals (four) and ranked third in points (six) in eight contests to help the Czech Republic capture the Bronze Medal. Prospal has also captured a Gold Medal at the 2005 World Championship, tallying the game-winning goal in the gold medal game vs. Canada and finishing second on the team in points (eight) and assists (six), and tying for second in goals (two).
The Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic native was originally Philadelphia’s third round choice, 71st overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
