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I understand the situation.
I understand that three of Pittsburgh's top four Penguins defensemen (Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Olli Maatta) are currently out of the lineup, and we do not know how long the two best players in this group (Letang and Dumoulin) ) will be put aside.
I understand that even when they are in perfect health, the Penguins do not have much defense depth after their first four and it is still necessary to add more depth to the stretching and playoff race because injuries occur. . You probably need at least eight or nine NHL-caliber defensemen to participate in an extended race in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
I also know that the team is currently precariously perched in the playoff bubble and that, combined with all that has just been mentioned, General Manager Jim Rutherford was under considerable pressure to tries to find a solution to the problem.
Negotiating Tanner Pearson for Erik Gudbranson was not the job he had to do.
Removing Pearson is rather useless, as it always seemed inevitable. He was not a difference maker, he was never a difference maker at any point in his career with the Los Angeles Kings or the Penguins, and he was never going to be a difference maker. It looked like a contract that would hurt the salary cap over the next two years.
But Erik Gudbranson?
There are a lot of problems here.
First of all, Gudbranson will cost more money over the next two years than Pearson.
It will also cost more money to probably bring less value to the table. Look at it like that … when the Penguins' defense is going to be healthy, whether it's this season or next season, where will it go?
There is no chance he's playing on Letang, Dumoulin, Schultz or Maatta.
We know that as long as Jack Johnson is on the list, he has a lock on a play spot for the evening.
This means that there is one of three possibilities: he plays against a player like Marcus Pettersson, he earns $ 4 million a year, or a better player is traded to make room for him regularly.
That's the long-term prospect because I'm not sure we'd ever see a situation this season where the Penguins are totally healthy on defense.
The short-term (and perhaps long-term) perspective, according to the variables mentioned above, is that the Penguins now have two of the worst defenders in the NHL playing on their blue line and paying them over 7 million dollars a year to go. he.
We know what Johnson's performance looks like from the point of view of numbers and perspectives.
Gudbranson was actually … worse.
Of the 232 defensemen who have recorded at least 1,000 minutes of 5-in-5 hockey since the start of the 2016-17 season, Gudbranson has the fourth-worst number of league attempts. He is the last to score the differential. He is the fifth worst opponent at the high risk score. He is the third worst in the goal differential.
(All data via Natural trick)
Speaking of his acquisition, the first thing that was said about him was chemistry, presence in the locker room, "deterrence" and pretty much anything except what he did on the ice. This is never a positive sign for an acquisition.
He also sends the Penguins' defense in the wrong direction.
In a league that focuses on speed, mobility and puck movement, especially at the back, the Penguins have now heavily invested in two of the worst players in the league in these areas. It's a strange change based on what made the team so successful when she won the Stanley Cup.
I understand the desire and push to do a business.
Since this season was bloody and the exchanges allowed them to win, they might have done better standing, seeing where this team would have taken her, and they tried to significantly remedy their gaps during the off season with a better approach.
Instead, all they did was get worse and more expensive.
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