Jackets Sign Vinny Prospal to Contract Extension

I love it on every level. Glad VP is sticking around—now as a player and later in the organization. The CBJ need players (and behind the scenes people) like Prospal. Nicely done!

…but bringing Vinny in adds to the "experience" that many have found lacking in this organization. Granted, it’s not an immediate boost, but to have a guy like Prospal working in your organization long-term… it’s a win no matter how you slice it. Whether it’s in player development, behind the bench, or just being a voice in the FO, Prospal is a guy who doesn’t mince words and who knows what it takes to work your way to the top of the NHL. That’s going to count for something, be it in developing young guys, working with the NHL team in practice, or even just helping out in the dressing room when things get tough.

It’s an incredible value for $2.5 million, and it also flies in the face of the whole "NO ONE WANTS TO COME HERE!!" meme bandied about on the Interwebs of late (-cough-Arace-cough-).

My initial reaction to this re-signing was very negative. Prospal is only going to be older next year and he’s unlikely to have a renaissance scoring performance. I felt that in this miserable season, it would be wise to move a UFA contract to a playoff contender in order to gather more parts for improvement next year or perhaps in a package to gain a goaltender/defenseman.

Upon further consideration, while I’m cautious about the actual signing, I feel that this indicates the front office and the player having a trust in the team they’ve assembled in some aspect. While having Prospal in the organization long-term is nice, I don’t imagine he would want to re-sign if he was under the impression that the team was going to suck again next year.

As at least a few people have been suggesting – the offense is there, despite what this performance would have us believe. There is no way so many forwards will have these kind of career lows again. By fixing up the goaltending and defense, the Jackets should be competitive next year. And as long as a coach doesn’t completely misuse players, the problems may not be much deeper than the players in the defensive zone.

I am happy that this seems to push aside the “Nuclear Option” (even if only slightly). If Prospal is willing to come back here and is convinced that he’s not going to spend his next year (and possible final season?) in a completely dysfunctional environment, then I hold out some faith that the Jackets will keep their core together next year.

I’m a huge Vinny P fan but I’m not sure how I feel about this. I love what Prospal brings to the locker room in terms of leadership, work ethic, and especially accountability. keeping him in the organization once he’s done playing is fantastic. My apprehension comes from my fear that this extension signals nothing will end up changing in Columbus. We’ll swap 3rd/4th line players and some AHL role players/prospects with another team and be stuck in an eerily similar situation that we’ve been in for the last 5 years.

Don’t get me wrong, I think this offense is much better than what we’ve seen this season and I expect it to be this bad in the future. However, this offense’s potential is still capped at average IMO.

Perhaps this means Howson isn’t allowed to make any significant changes this year because he’s getting canned as soon as the season is over. We can hope right?

…I wouldn’t say that this completely rules out the “nuclear” option, although it may not be the complete overhaul that many of us anticipated. However, a “restructuring” of the team may still be on the way.

This signing ensures a veteran voice and leadership in the locker room next year, and may prelude the departure of other veteran players, for example, Umberger and/or Vermette.

other wise they would get the 2nd or 3rd they could get for prospal now

I love this move.

I’m all for keeping veterans that can still get it done