FanPost

Is it time to move Brandon Sutter?

June 22, 2012 would prove to be a big day in recent Pittsburgh Penguins history. A day after Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh's then third line center, rejected a 10 year $60 million contract offer to remain with the team, he was traded away to the Carolina Hurricanes. The return in the trade brought to Pittsburgh another young defensively sound Center in Brandon Sutter, a big young defenseman in Brian Dumoulin and the 8th overall pick that day. The Penguins went on to draft a very talented offensive defenseman in Derrick Pouliot with that pick. The two young defenseman appear to be good additions as both project to be NHL defenseman in the future. The area of concern comes with Pittsburgh's new third line center, Brandon Sutter.

At the time of the trade, Brandon Sutter was coming off 40, 29 and 32 point seasons in his previously three. He was known for his defensive ability and quite a wrist shot. the drop off from Jordan Staal to Brandon Sutter was obvious, but on paper Sutter looked to be a viable replacement. Before I go on, I will clarify this is not a comparison of Brandon Sutter to Jordan Staal. Staal was a spectacular third line center performing at the rate of a second or first line center. As outlined by a Pensburgh contributor here: credit to @LyleKossis for his work.

Brandon Sutter, on the other hand, never turned into a possession driving center. Going back to his time in Carolina, he has spent his career below the 50% mark in terms of Corsi For. Through 46 games this season, he is performing at 46.8% CF%. To give you a bit of a benchmark, Zach Sill is 44.8%. About the only thing going for Sutter is his ability to kill penalties and an ever-so-often wicked wrist shot from the right wing. Which I must admit is a fun thing to watch, but if I've done well in conveying my point (or maybe the linked article), it is not worth the 3.3 million cap hit he hold.


The proposal

Move Sutter by the deadline this year. Sutter seems to be held in high regards around the league, and I imagine there would be some teams willing to pull the trigger.

Sutter to STL for Patrik Berglund

I am not sure how much the Goc for Lapierre deal made just two nights ago (January 27) hurts or helps the possibility of completing this trade, but it would be worth while to look into. Saint Louis has a lot of forward depth, particularly down the middle with David Backes, Paul Stastny, and Jori Lehtera. While getting slightly more favorable zone starts than Sutter, through 45 games this season Berglund is 55.5% CF%. Berglund is about even in zone starts starting slightly more in the defensive zone with a -1.1% ZS%. Obviously, his usage would likely dictate more defensive zone starts in Pittsburgh, but he is more than capable of it. Without gapgeek, the best I can come up with is a cap hit of $3.7 million. Adding the extra 400k and STL maybe wanting something to spice up the offer almost certainly means Jim Rutherford would need to move another piece, but it should be obtainable.

Other options could include Andrew Cogliano and Cody Eakin from the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars respectively.

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