CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Jim Rutherford was saying there was not one single tipping point.
It wasn't Evgeni Malkin having to drop his gloves to defend himself. It wasn't seeing Evander Kane mock his team in front of its own bench. It wasn't Wayne Simmonds slamming Brian Dumoulin's head against plexiglass. It wasn't even watching Monday as the Blue Jackets, one of the teams ahead of the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division, added more muscle by acquiring Adam McQuaid at the NHL trade deadline.
It was a combination of things.
While the Penguins have been at the forefront of moving the NHL toward more of a speed and skill game, not everyone has cooperated. Certainly they're not in Washington or Boston or Tampa or Columbus. Those are some of the teams that the Penguins might have to get past if they are to somehow recapture the Stanley Cup. As it is, Rutherford's team is on the outside of the playoff field with 20 games remaining, beginning with tomorrow night's game against those Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
"I feel comfortable with this team but, as I say that, I'm being a little nervous whether we're going to get in," Rutherford was saying. "It's going to be a battle to the end."
And that is why the Penguins’ general manager shipped Tanner Pearson to the Canucks in exchange for defenseman Erik Gudbranson minutes before the 3 p.m. deadline.
It was one of a handful of transactions that Rutherford made on Monday:
• In a separate trade, he sent minor-league center Jean-Sebastien Dea to the Panthers in exchange for defenseman Chris Wideman.
• He reassigned rookie forward Teddy Blueger to Wilkes-Barre.
• He recalled defenseman Zach Trotman from the AHL.
But the Gudbranson trade was the biggest -- literally and figuratively -- move that Rutherford and the Penguins could make Monday.
Though they have received encouraging news on the injuries to Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin, both of whom will miss Tuesday's game, Olli Maatta is on the shelf for at least a month with a shoulder separation. Rutherford said there was no update on Maatta's status.
That left the Penguins needing a defenseman. And not just anyone. Preferably it was one who was bigger and one who can bring a physical edge. Gudbranson checked both of those boxes. At 6-foot-5 and 217 pounds, Gudbranson certainly adds size. And with 27 career fights to his resume, a fight card that includes bouts against Tom Wilson, Zack Kassian and Micheal Haley, he certainly knows how to handle himself.
The #Penguins just received D Erik Gudbranson in a trade — and he has a bit of a history with... TOM WILSON.
📹 via @hockeyfights
Our coverage: https://t.co/jlPOWlR2Vd pic.twitter.com/ZARTHlkXUu
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) February 25, 2019
"I think we're comfortable in a sense with (Zach) Aston-Reese and (Garrett) Wilson, with guys who can push back in those physical games, but having another guy, especially on the back end, it's going to give guys a comfort level," Rutherford said.
Gudbranson also brings a first-round pedigree. He was originally drafted by the Panthers third overall in the 2010 draft. He was dealt to the Canucks in a 2016 trade that sent future teammate Jared McCann to South Florida. Although Gudbranson never lived up his pre-draft billing, he is a solid third-pair defenseman. If that sounds a lot like Jamie Oleksiak, it should. He brought a similar skill set, but Rutherford said Oleksiak was dealt in part to make way for the Feb. 1 trade that brought Nick Bjugstad and McCann.
Gudbranson gives the Penguins another right-handed shot to go along with Justin Schultz, Chad Ruhwedel and Letang. He has two goals, six assists and 83 penalty minutes for Vancouver this season. In his eight-year career, Gudbranson has 11 goals and 32 assists for 43 points in 448 games to go along with 346 PIMs.
His Penguins debut will have to wait a few days though. Due to immigration issues, he will not play tomorrow in Columbus. But, theoretically, the Penguins defense pairs could soon look like this:
Dumoulin-Letang
Johnson-Schultz
Pettersson-Gudbranson
However, like Jack Johnson before him, Gudbranson comes to the Penguins with some unflattering advanced stats. In addition to his minus-27 rating, the worst of any player in the NHL, Gudbranson has a 43.45 Corsi For percentage and his 34.44 Goals-For percentage is the lowest among all defensemen appearing in 600-plus minutes this season. He has been on the ice for 31 goals-for and 59 goals-against at 5v5 this season, albeit on a Canucks team that has a minus-23 goal differential and is six points out of a wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
However, those numbers did not scare off Rutherford.
“It might still be the case, but that doesn't decide why you want certain players," he said. "In Erik's case, he's a real heart-and-soul guy, he's a good dressing room guy. He has good character and he can protect our players. It puts us in a stronger position to push back when we get into more physical games. As you know, there's some teams that play a skate and skill game, some teams play a more physical game. He's going to bring that element that can help us."
The Penguins will take on an additional $250,000 cap hit each of the next two years, as Gudbranson is signed for $4 million through 2020-21; Pearson's cap hit was $3.75 million. Basically, it's a wash. Pearson had nine goals and five assists in 44 games for Pittsburgh. He was acquired on Nov. 14 from the Kings in exchange for Carl Hagelin, who was traded to the Capitals over the weekend.
Rutherford said that Gudbranson wasn't made available for a trade until last week and that the deal came together quickly today. But to land him, he said he had to send Pearson to make it work.
"Doesn't mean we didn't like him," Rutherford said. "We were looking for someone who scored a little more than Hagelin did and Pearson did that."
Almost an hour after the 3 p.m. deadline passed, the trade for Wideman was approved. Wideman, another right-handed shot, has two goals and five assists in 25 games this season for the Panthers. The Penguins are one of four organizations he'll play for this season. He will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre to start. Over his four NHL seasons, he has 45 points, 16 goals and 29 assists, in 181 career games.
• True to his word, Rutherford did not part ways with the Penguins' first-round pick in this year's draft. Didn't entertain offers for it either. That means the Penguins will be selecting in the first round for the first time since Kasperi Kapanen was selected 22nd overall in 2014, Rutherford's first season with the Penguins.
"This is a year where we're on the bubble to get in, so I didn't want to risk that," Rutherford said. "Also, it's a very good draft and it was important this year to keep that pick."
• By not moving any significant pieces at the deadline -- not Matt Murray or Patric Hornqivst or Phil Kessel -- Rutherford, in effect, gave his team a vote of confidence.
"We're good enough to get in, we're good enough to take a run," he said. "We've played at stretches of time against top teams and we've played well. But there's some inconsistency in our play. We have to have everything going that makes you a good team. Our goaltending has to be consistent and strong. We have to get healthy on defense. Hopefully we can do that by this weekend, and our forwards have to do what they are capable of doing."
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