Wild Grab Nate Prosser Off Waivers

It sounds like a joke, but it’s not. Former Wild defenseman Nate Prosser was signed to a two-way deal with the St. Louis Blues this summer after the Wild decided they didn’t want to re-sign the Elk River native and now he’s back.

If you told me a team grabbed Prosser off waivers today, I would have guess 28 other teams before guessing that it was the Wild who had grabbed him.

As the preseason starts to wind down teams across the league are making roster cuts and sending bubble players to the AHL so that they clear waivers while other teams are still making roster decisions and less likely to grab guys like Travis Morin off waivers. In that spirit, the Blues put Prosser on waivers and not too long before he would have cleared the Wild have swooped in to grab the player who has been gone for just a couple months.

If you’re the kind of Wild fan who likes your players to be from in-state, this signing is for you. For everyone else, it’s a depth signing. Prosser will likely spend a lot of time in the AHL despite having played a career-high 53 games last season. The Wild’s defensive depth has been bolstered and Prosser just may not have a spot on the team any longer.

On the other hand, the Wild have acquired a defenseman that they know what to expect from and has enough NHL experience that they can slot him in if there are injuries or if, to everyone’s surprise, both Matt Dumba and Christian Folin prove to need more time developing and are sent to Iowa.

Part of the appeal may be that while that Wild were deciding whether or not to re-sign Prosser he wanted a one-way contract. Knowing that they had a lot of prospects in the system that may pass Prosser up this season, the Wild wanted a two-way deal, so they didn’t re-sign him. Prosser did sign a two-way deal with St. Louis however and by grabbing him of waivers, the Wild got their two-way deal with Prosser.

Prosser spent the last two seasons with the Wild on a one-way deal that paid him $800,000 in the first season and $850,000 in the second season. He’ll be with the Wild now on a two-way deal that pays him $700,000 if he plays in the NHL and $250,000 in the AHL. In addition to his salary the Wild will pay $26,250 to claim Prosser, according to Michael Russo.

Prosser will be the third player that the team has let go previously only to bring back this year. The other two — Cody Almond and Justin Falk — actually spent real time away from the team, but that does make three weird signings.

Prosser is currently in St. Louis, where the Wild play tonight. Prosser will not be in the lineup, but will travel home with the team.

If you want to re-live Prosser’s brief heroism at Hockey Day Minnesota, go here to watch every goal Prosser scored for the Wild last season. You can listen to Prosser talk to Wild radio host Kevin Falness immediately after the Wild grabbed him here.