Brandon Prust, Raman Hrabarenka signed to PTOs by the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be bringing 32-year-old left winger Brandon Prust to training camp on a Player Tryout Agreement.

Prust spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks after coming over from Montreal in a swap for Zack Kassian. He played only 44 games in 2015-16, nine of which were with Utica in the AHL, accumulating seven points in 35 NHL appearances while playing a little less than 13 minutes per game on average.

The London, Ontario native battled an ankle injury for the majority of the season before a mutual agreement with the Canucks ended his season short so he could get an early start on offseason rehab after surgery. The original injury took place just nine games into the season in a late October meeting against his former team:

Prior to the ankle injury — which sidelined him nearly a month, and continued to nag him for the remainder of the year — Prust had been enjoying a fine start to the season with five points in nine games, including a two-point night prior to his injury. Prust went pointless in 24 of 25 games after returning to the ice on November 21.

He was passed through waivers and sent down to Utica in early February, where he put up seven points in nine games before shutting it down for the season on March 10.

At the height of his game, Prust could bring jam to the lineup and chip in a little secondary offense. His best offensive season came as a New York Ranger in 2010-11, with 13 goals and 29 points, but he was typically in the 15-20 point range in his prime offensive years.

Prust’s 740 penalty minutes since 2010-11 rank him fourth in the league over the past six seasons, and his 82 major penalties rank third (Matt Martin’s 66 rank fifth). His 95 minors rank 116th over that same time period.

Prust’s possession numbers have fallen off a cliff in the past few years, suggesting he is past his expiration date as far as capably handling a regular NHL shift. His 44.4% CF ranked 550 of 588 players with more than 400 minutes played in 2015-16 (his -3.3 CF REL ranked 512 of 588). He was hindered by an injury last season, but his final year in Montreal wasn’t much better — 514th of 602 (min. 400 minutes played) with a -2.3 CF REL.

For those reasons and more, Prust would make little sense as an actual signing beyond the camp tryout. The Leafs seemingly have too many bodies as is, with a bunch of young talent trying to crack the NHL lineup and a number of unwanted veterans hanging around as the Leafs wait out the final year of their contracts. The roster constraints make Prust signing after preseason pretty unlikely, so why the invite?

Prust is a London native and former Knight who played for the Hunters, so we’re likely looking at a favour to Prust as he auditions for a contract — if not in Toronto, then elsewhere — and tries to prove his health and worth to teams around the league. We also know the Babcock standard is an intense, competitive camp, and that team toughness has been a concern for the Leafs‘ head coach. This could just be some muscle to play in the kid-heavy preseason lineups. The NHL also has rules requiring a certain number of veterans to feature in exhibition games, some of which will be played while the World Cup of Hockey is ongoing (with nine Leafs in attendance).

It seems only fair to withhold criticism until Prust is actually a member of the organization. Last Fall, the Leafs brought four players to camp on PTOs, ultimately signing Brad Boyes to a one-year contract and cutting Curtis Glencross, Mark Fraser and Devin Setoguchi.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will also be bringing 23-year-old right-handed defenceman Raman Hrabarenka to camp on a PTO, according to James Mirtle.

The 6’4, 230 pound Belorussian is familiar to Lou Lamoriello as he was an undrafted signing of the Devils organization in 2012 after finishing up his QMJHL career. He’s featured in just one NHL game back in 2014-15, spending the bulk of his last three seasons in the AHL with the Albany Devils.

Hrabarenka enjoyed two productive AHL seasons offensively in 2013-14 and 2014-15, accumulating 48 points in 95 games, including 15 goals. He took a step back offensively with nine points in 47 AHL games last season.

Scouting report courtesy of The Forecaster: