Rangers News: Rangers Make It Official, Vinny Prospal Signed

Here is the official press release from Rangers.com

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent forward Vinny Prospal.

"Vinny is a highly-skilled player with good offensive instincts and the ability to play on the wing or at the center position," stated Sather.  "We think he will give us added flexibility and brings a veteran presence to our lineup."

Prospal has eclipsed the 20-goal mark four times, including a career-high 33 goals in 2007-08, and has recorded two career hat tricks.  He has also surpassed the 70-point plateau three times, and is one point shy of 600 career NHL points and two goals from reaching 200 career goals.

The 6-2, 198 pounder has skated in 874 regular season contests with the Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Anaheim Ducks, recording 198 goals and 401 assists for 599 points, along with 473 penalty minutes.  Prospal has skated in 80 or more games in each of the last seven seasons.

In 2007-08, he established career-highs in goals (33) and game-winning goals (five), and tied his career-highs in games played (82) and power play goals (10).  He led Philadelphia in goals, and ranked second on the team in shots (215), and third in points (71) and assists (38).  He also tied for third on the club in power play goals and game-winning goals.

His most productive season was in 2005-06, when he registered a career-best 80 points (25 goals and 55 points) with Tampa Bay.  He also established career-highs in shots (236), power play goals (10) and multi-point games (24).  Prospal tied the Lightning record for longest point streak, recording a point in 13 consecutive games from October 26 to November 20 (eight goals and 13 assists).

Prospal appeared in 82 games with Tampa Bay last season, registering 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points, along with 52 penalty minutes.  He ranked fourth on the team in assists, tied for fourth in points and finished fifth in goals.  He also ranked third on the Lightning in scoring during the month of January (six goals and eight assists), and was one of only two players on Tampa Bay to appear in all 82 games. 

Prospal recorded a season-high, seven-game scoring streak from December 30 against Montreal to January 12 at Los Angeles, collecting nine points (three goals and six assists) over the span.  In addition, Prospal recorded his 400th NHL assist on March 7 against Carolina.

Prospal also captured a bronze medal with the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, tying for the team-lead with four goals and finishing third on the club with six points.

The Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic native was originally Philadelphia’s third round choice, 71st overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

There you go boys and girls, its official.