Brandon Sutter was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. (USATSI)
The Pittsburgh Penguins are wheeling and dealing again. The Pens sent center Brandon Sutter and a third-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for center Nick Bonino, defenseman Adam Clendening and a second-round pick. The Pens also signed UFA forward Eric Fehr to a three-year deal worth $6 million.
The trade allows the Penguins to clear Sutter’s $3.3 million cap hit, while also adding a more skilled center that can produce in Bonino. An added bonus, Bonino’s deal runs through 2016-17 at an awfully cap-friendly $1.9 million.
Sutter is coming off of a 21-goal, 33-point season for the Penguins. While he’s a fine depth center, his production rarely matched the cost. Bonino’s production has been similar, but at a substantially lower cap hit. The 27-year-old put up 88 points over the last two seasons spent between the Anaheim Ducks and Canucks. That total includes 37 goals.
Also an interesting piece in the trade, Clendening has spent the bulk of his young career in the AHL. He has just 21 games of NHL experience between the Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. Last season, he posted 19 points in 49 AHL games. He also had eight points in helping the Utica Comets to the Calder Cup Finals in the AHL last season. He could fight for a role on Pittsburgh’s blue line.
It seems like the Canucks spent a lot to acquire Sutter in this deal, especially adding in a second-round pick to apparently sweeten the pot. That pick, by the way, was Anaheim’s second-rounder for 2016. It’s been a strange offseason in Vancouver and this will probably do little to appease a restless fan base.
Circling back to the Penguins, the addition of Fehr is a pretty good one. A solid depth winger who had one of the better years of his career last season, Fehr posted 19 goals and 33 points for the Washington Capitals. At $2 million per season, he’ll provide solid depth, which is something the Penguins seem to be in perpetual need of.
Fehr did undergo elbow surgery in June, which comes with a recovery timeline of four to six months, so he may be on the shelf to start the year. That said, once he gets back, the Penguins are looking a lot better in their bottom six.
When you look at the central additions brought in by the Penguins Tuesday, getting both Bonino and Fehr at a total of $3.9 million versus what they were getting out of Sutter at $3.3 million on his own, it was a very good day at the office for GM Jim Rutherford.
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