In Erik Gudbranson and Jack Johnson, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford has now added two of the NHL's most underwhelming defensemen in less than one year.
Penguins get: D Erik Gudbranson
Canucks get: F Tanner Pearson
Penguins: D-plus
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has earned a metric ton of goodwill for building back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in Pittsburgh. He'll need to spend a lot of it to make up for this bizarre deal.
For defensemen who have played at least 1,500 minutes at 5-on-5 since 2016-17, there's only one defenseman with a lower Corsi for percentage than Erik Gudbranson: Cody Ceci of the Ottawa Senators, a defenseman so underwhelming that the everything-must-go Senators couldn't find a taker for him at the deadline. Gudbranson has a minus-144 in shot attempts in that span. This season alone, he has a minus-222 in shot attempts. The Canucks have a .890 save percentage with Gudbranson on the ice, making him the only defenseman on their roster who contributes an on-ice save percentage of under .900.
Gudbranson has been praised for his physicality, and no doubt he'll be called upon to provide some toughness for the Penguins. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide much else. And yes, the Penguins are dealing with injuries right now, but they could have done better.
It is absolutely astounding that the Pittsburgh Penguins have added Erik Gudbranson -- who is signed through 2020-21 at $4 million annually -- and Jack Johnson -- signed through 2023 at $3.25 million -- to their defense corps in the last year. Sergei Gonchar has worked magic in the past with reclamation projects on defense. He better be David Copperfield with these duds.
Canucks: B
Tanner Pearson is signed through 2020-21 at $3.75 million against the cap. He was acquired by the Penguins after he went his first 17 games this season with just one assist. With Pittsburgh, he had nine goals and five assists in 44 games. Needless to say, this season has been a far, far cry from the 24 goals and 20 assists he put up in 2016-17 with the Los Angeles Kings.
He returns to the Western Conference with Vancouver. Here's saying that this season was a mulligan, and that Pearson regains his footing with the Canucks. His underlying numbers have traditionally been better than the minus-11 in goals at 5-on-5 he's had this season. This might turn out to be an exceptionally lopsided deal if Pearson reverts to form.