Penguins Deal Gudbranson, Clear Roster and Cap Space

Well the shoe finally dropped. We knew the change had to come. We knew it all along; if for no other reason than there was a log jam on defense. In a real head scratcher move, the team chose to keep 9 defensemen on the roster at the start of the season. So to try and fix some very poor financial and personnel decision Erik Gudbranson to the Anaheim Ducks for winger Andreas Martinsen and a 7th round draft pick.

Yes, I know I am a bit late on this one. The news is rather old. I did see it yesterday, but I have been very busy and couldn’t think coherent enough to write anything. However, this morning, after a bit of rest and sleep, I can organize my thoughts into something cogent.

First of all, let me say I liked Gudbranson and hate to see him go, especially when I worry about next season. Next season, it could be very likely that the team loses Justin Schultz to Unrestricted Free Agency (UFA). Even if they don’t lose him to UFA, he could be plucked by Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft. If he is the team will be left with precious little in the way of Right Handed Defensemen.

I is not that I dislike Zach Trotman or Chad Ruhwedel but both are really more like 7th defensemen, not really a regular top 6. Both can acquit themselves well for up to several games, but long term they will start to get expose. So, barring another trade, the team will be left with only Kris Letang and John Marino.

Letang may be a serious offensive defenseman, not to be confused with Paul Coffey, but still a top flight offensive force from the blue line. Unfortunately, Letang isn’t even as good as Coffey was in his own zone. Defensively, Letang is lost in his own zone. The only part of Letang;s defensive game that deserves positive notice is his heart and willingness to try and keep opponents like Anders Lee from sitting on top of Penguins’ Goalies.

Marino, I like him a lot and he has looked really, really good most of the time, but he has been exposed as a rookie on several critical occasions. With this kid’s upside, he is a no brainer to supplant Schultz (I would rather it be Letang – but that won’t happen). However, that will leave a big hole at RHD.

(Calen Addison – I’ll talk about that another time, at the end of the month – reviewing Penguins Prospects)

However, as I noted above, GM Jim Rutherford and Coach Mike Sullivan tied their own hands with poor financial and personnel decisions. With some creative maneuvering the team did find a way to sneak in under the Cap at the start of the season but now, with the IR list, where tons of salary was hidden, is about to be emptied, the bill is coming due. Penguin management had very little wiggle room. They had to make some kind of move. So Gudbranson was sacrificed.

If you have been keeping up with the internet chatter, like me, you probably expected a Gudbranson trade. Propagandists have recently been trying to make a case for keeping Jack Johnson over Gudbranson. Like stage magicians they have been trying to direct the reader’s attention With Or Without You (WOWY) CORSI stats. They have been writing about how Johnson – Marino are a 50% while Gudbranson – Marino were 29%. Of course Gudbranson – Marino were so low, they are both RHD. Right now rookie Marino should be the 7th Defenseman. If Juuso Riikola had been given Defensive Time On Ice (TOI) a Riikola – Gudbranson WOWY Corsi could very well have trumped Johnson – Marino. There have been times that Johnson has bailed out a Marino mistake, but let’s not kid ourselves, like Simon Despres kept Rob Scuderi looking usable, Marino’s youth and speed is buoying Johnson up more than Johnson is covering up Marino’s rookie mistakes.

The propagandists deftly ignore the fact that in the limited time Gudbranson was here, no one really ran into Penguins’ Goalies. Using written legerdemain they try to direct attention to the left hand so that the reader doesn’t think about the right hand. There is no stat kept for times a Goalie gets run over. However, let us look at Matt Murray’s Games Missed. Since Gudbranson came to Pittsburgh, he hasn’t missed a game due to injury. Before Gudbranson, Murray would often find himself injured.

Oh well, what is done is done. Gudbranson is gone, along with his $4 million cap hit, and Martinsen is here. Welcome to Pittsburgh, er… a Wilkes Barre – Scranton, Martinsen. I wish you well, Gudbranson. No offense intended to you Martinsen but I would have rather the team found another way around their previous mistakes.

For those of you unfamiliar with Martinsen, he is a 29 year old left handed, Norwegian born, winger. He has played 152 games in the NHL, on 4 different teams with varying success. He was plying his trade with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL at the time of the trade and was assigned to our Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) farm club. The scouting reports on him say that he is;

A large, tough forward with a good shot. Enjoys the physical part of the game crashing the net. Has good speed and decent hands. (eliteprospects.com).

On a bit of a good note, Martinsen is not the typical midget forward that the team usually picks up.  The Norwegian winger is 6′-3 229 lbs. If somehow the team needs to recall him to Pittsburgh, I wouldn’t mind getting a look at him. I really don’t remember any of his play when he was in the NHL before.

With Martinsen being assigned to WBS, Sam Lafferty should be able to stick a little longer on the big club. He deserves it.

Tonight our Penguins play the Dallas Stars again. Since our Penguins beat them 4 – 2 8 days ago, the Stars have gone on a 3 game win streak; beating the Flyers, Senators, and Ducks. They only gave up 1 goal in each of those games. After posting a couple of back-to-back 7 goal games, scoring has come out of an eye dropper for our aquatic avians. It seems like a good time for our forwards to break out of their slump and stop the Stars’ Streak.

Go Pens!!!!