Nearly a year after resigning as general manager of the Penguins, Jim Rutherford is back in the NHL as the president of hockey operations and interim general manager of the Canucks.
In Rutherford's introductory press conference in Vancouver on Monday, two of his moves made as general manager of the Penguins were called into question: The signing of Jack Johnson to a five-year contract on the opening day of free agency in 2018, and the acquisition of Erik Gudbranson from the Canucks in February 2019.
Rutherford was asked if he learned any lessons from the acquisitions of Johnson or Gudbranson, with the reporter noting that they were not moves that were looked kindly on analytics-wise.
"Well, I use analytics a lot," Rutherford said. "I really like it. But it's not what I make my decision on. You make hockey decisions for different reasons."
Rutherford said that he didn't regret acquiring Johnson or Gudbranson at all.
"Jack Johnson was a big part of our dressing room and a big part of our team," Rutherford continued. "He did some good things for us. He didn't get a good chance in Pittsburgh because he was never accepted from Day 1."
"In Gudbranson's case, we needed defense at that point in time, and we needed a physical guy, because we didn't have one," Rutherford said. "I like his character, and he served a purpose when he was there. But it got to a point that he affected our cap, and so that's when he got moved on."
The Penguins bought out Johnson's contract in October 2020, and are still dealing with the salary cap implications for the next four seasons. Johnson counts $1,166,667 toward the Penguins' cap this season, and that increases to $1,916,667 for the 2022-23 season. Johnson's cap hit for the Penguins will be $916,667 for the final three years of the buyout.
Gudbranson was traded to Anaheim eight months after he was acquired, with the Penguins receiving AHL forward Andreas Martinsen and a 2021 seventh-round pick in return. Martinsen played 24 games for Wilkes-Barre before returning to Europe. The Penguins used that seventh-round pick to draft defenseman Ryan McCleary out of the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL this past offseason.
