Brandon Prust clears waivers, will report to Utica Comets

Brandon Prust will join the Utica Comets, the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate in upstate New York, after he went unclaimed on the waiver wire.

#canucks Brandon Prust not claimed.

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 3, 2016

Prust hasn’t played a game in the AHL since the 2007-08 season when he played for Quad City when he was in the Flames’ organization.

The Canucks were unable to trade Prust, given his poor play and $2.5 million cap hit.

GM Jim Benning explained the decision to put Prust on waivers yesterday, saying the team wanted to get “younger and faster.”

Hear what Jim Benning had to say about placing Prust on waivers & extending Biega's contract.https://t.co/e8kOcu0Ite

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 2, 2016

Younger and faster, that’s music to my ears, but easy to say with an underperforming fourth liner like Prust. Will the same philosophy hold true with Radim Vrbata and Dan Hamhuis? The NHL trade deadline is 26 days away.