The injury to Dubinsky is the most negative thing to happen to the CBJ this year. It could have literally been avoided by having Prout on the team. I'm not talking about an aged Boll or Jody Shelley at all. You can't argue that a younger Boll and Dorsett weren't a positive impact on the CBJ. We didn't lose games back then because we played too aggressive, the same way we didn't lose to PIT in the playoffs because of it. And I'm also not talking about dressing Prout 60 games a year/15 min a night. He seemed more than liked by him teammates and showed on "many" occasions the positive impact he could have on the team. Just having him around as the #7-8 guy and able to jump in when needed (25-30 games, 12 min/night, net front PK time) is worth the 1-2 mil a year. The CBJ also showed the willingness to go with 7D for a time. The single digit ice time and sheltered ice time Carlsson got for a bit would be perfect for Prout and perfect for the CBJ. You may not realize his importance when nothing "bad" happens when he is around, but you cant ignore that we have now lost our most important center for an extended time and just how much NOT having Prout around affected that.
You people can say that Prout has no negative/intimidation affect on the other team, but its not true. Not only by holding other teams accountable by a fight or able to protect our other players, but also allowing them to feel safe playing an aggressive style. Along with the idea that I guarantee you, guys KNOW that he is out there on the ice against them. Thats "impact" in itself. I know people also just wanna jump in and say how bad he is and that's why he's "no good" to the team or in the NHL, well the NHL disagrees with you. And all of the reasons I've listed above are why.
He's not Zack Werenski, and will never play that way. But he has a skillset that is still valuable in the NHL and WOULD BE valuable to the CBJ.