Erik Gudbranson trade proves Penguins have lost their way

The Erik Gudbranson trade proves the Pittsburgh Penguins have no freaking idea what they’re doing. 

They say the worst decisions you make are those that you rush. This is certainly the case with the NHL trade deadline. The teams who make illogical, rushed moves are going to regret them while the teams who do their shopping beforehand and pick up bargains are going to like theirs. It’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Penguins are an example of the former after trading for defenseman Erik Gudbranson.

The trade sums up everything that is wrong with the Pens. It’s remarkable how the Penguins have completely abandoned the strategy which won them two consecutive Stanley Cups. They’ve been heading in the wrong direction for a while. But now, the Penguins are stuck in the middle of nowhere.

It all started after Pittsburgh hoisted its second Stanley Cup in two years. For some odd reason, general manager Jim Rutherford abandoned the “let’s outskate everybody and score a ton of goals” strategy that had just won them two straight titles and decided the Penguins needed more grit. They traded their 2017 first-round pick for enforcer Ryan Reaves, thinking he would fit in with the team. He did not.

In fact, Reaves wound up being shipped out to the Vegas Golden Knights in the now infamous Derick Brassard three-way trade. The addition of Jamie Oleksiak via a smart trade in November of 2017 rendered him surplus.

Rutherford doubled down on his grit, character, and sandpaper sermon by signing defenseman Jack Johnson to a five-year deal worth $16.25 million. It was a bad deal before the ink dried and it somehow looks even worse now.

Back in January, Rutherford made the controversial decision to trade Oleksiak back to the Dallas Stars. Ironically, they got back the same pick they gave up for him. So the Penguins pretty much rented Oleksiak for just over a year. A month later, the trade looks really bad because they wound up needing him thanks to Olli Maatta’s injury.

On Saturday, Feb. 23, just a few days before the NHL trade deadline, the Penguins lost both Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang due to injuries. Luckily, it appears the latter will be fine. But the former is out with a concussion.

Had the Penguins gone after a defenseman earlier like they should have, they might have been able to get Nick Jensen from the Detroit Red Wings. Instead, they watched as their biggest rivals not only traded for him, but gave him an extremely reasonable four-year extension.

This left the Penguins scrambling at the deadline for defensemen. Rutherford didn’t go after old friend Ben Lovejoy. Nor did he go after a rental defenseman like Adam McQuaid. Instead, Rutherford tripled down on grit, character, and sandpaper by trading for Gudbranson.

Gudbranson is really bad. In fact, he’s one of the very few defensemen who has been worse than Jack Johnson this season. Gudbranson’s shot impacts are terrible across the board. Even if you’re an old school person who thinks plus-minus is a respectable stat, guess what? Gudbranson has the worst in the NHL.

This trade obviously hurts the Penguins in the present. Pittsburgh is going to trot out two of the worst defensemen in the league. Even if Maatta, Dumoulin, and Letang all return, let’s be honest, does anyone think the Penguins are going to scratch Johnson? They haven’t done it yet despite being given every reason to do so. Why would the Penguins do it now?

Though it’s possible for Gudbranson to improve, fans shouldn’t count on it. Sure, Justin Schultz got his career saved by defensive coach Sergei Gonchar. But Schultz had something to build on. When the Penguins got him, he was an athletic puck mover. The Penguins have put Schultz in situations that have let him flourish. Gudbranson has very little going for him, especially in a league that is getting faster and more skilled every year.

This trade also hurts them in the future. The Penguins blueline situation is extremely crowded. They currently have six defensemen signed through the 2019-20 season – Letang, Dumoulin, Johnson, Maatta, Gudbranson, and Schultz.

This makes Marcus Pettersson’s future in Pittsburgh uncertain at best. He’ll be a restricted free agent, so he’ll need a new contract. Pettersson has been pretty darn solid for the Penguins in a sheltered role, but he might be stuck as the seventh defenseman unless something changes.

The Gudbranson trade makes Pittsburgh worse than they were before, both in the present and the future. They’ve been heading down this road for a while. Now it’s up to Rutherford, who’s the biggest reason why they’re lost to begin with, to lead them out.