The Devils are finally getting healthy up front, which means that someone was eventually going to be a casualty of the 23-man roster rule in the NHL. They delayed the problem by a few days by exploiting the holiday roster freeze, but today the team announced that it was going to waive Dalton Prout.
#NJDevils: Dalton Prout has been placed on waivers.
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) December 28, 2017
If he clears, he will have to report to Binghamton.
Prout has played in a whopping four games this year and was only going to get into the lineup if several defensemen were injured at the same time. After being acquired from the Blue Jackets last year in a trade for Kyle Quincey, Prout did not figure to be a long term fixture in the Devils’ lineup. He was brought in to be a big body but with the offseason additions of Mueller and Butcher and the subsequent midseason acquisition of Sami Vatanen, there was little to no chance that Prout would see game action anytime soon. His style was more oriented towards a bruising and physical game rather than the fast pace that the Devils have adopted this season.
If Prout clears waivers, he will be reassigned to Binghamton. In 18 games as a New Jersey Devil over the last two partial seasons, Prout managed three assists, 43 penalty minutes and accrued a -7 rating. With Ben Lovejoy already acting as a de facto 7th defenseman and Mueller resuming rehabilitation activities for his fractured clavicle, Prout became much more expendable. He had not played since November 3rd in a game against the Oilers in which he fought Milan Lucic. While he had a promising preseason, his style of play and the Devils’ positional depth relegated him to the waiver wire.
Your thoughts
What do you think? Will Prout be a big locker room loss? Will he make it through waivers? Let us know in the comments.