At the beginning of the next NHL season, Chad Ruhwedel will begin his fifth -- yes, fifth -- contract with the Penguins, a two-year extension with a cap hit of just $800,000 that was signed prior to the end of last season.
By the end of his first season with the Penguins in 2016-17, Ruhwedel was largely considered an ideal seventh defenseman. He didn't possess any flashy skills or even stand out on the ice. Really, a lot of games would end and you'd forget he was in the lineup.
In many cases, that would be one of the worst things you could say about a player.
For a bottom-pairing defenseman? That's a compliment of the highest order.
Sure, it would be great to have a difference-maker on that pairing who could tilt the game, but there is plenty of value in players who can be put on the ice without the worry of them sinking the entire operation.
That, in a nutshell, was Ruhwedel.
A smooth skater, Ruhwedel rarely -- if ever -- made egregious mistakes and rarely if ever made plays that left you impressed. He was simply doing his job and taking care of business.
Prior to signing his first contract with the Penguins, Ruhwedel appeared in 35 games with the Sabres over four seasons. 21 of those games were during the 2013-14 season, leaving a combined five games played in the two seasons leading up to the beginning of his time in Pittsburgh.
Ruhwedel made enough of a mark in his first season with the Penguins to be re-signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $650,000. Due to injuries on the blue line, he played a career-high 44 games the following season. He was OK. Decent. But most importantly, he filled in and didn't crush the Penguins when he was on the ice.
A season later, Ruhwedel found his way into the lineup only 18 times, but had some pretty eye-catching shot and chance impacts in a limited sample. The Penguins elected to bring him back on another two-year contract -- still as a seventh defenseman.
He played in 41 games during the 2019-20 season and, though his performance was adequate, Cody Ceci was signed the next offseason to man the Penguins' third-pairing. The always lurking injury bug allowed Ruhwedel to play in 17 games of the 56-game schedule and it was the very best hockey of his career both visually and statistically.
Ruhwedel had already been extended on a one-year contract for the 2021-22 season before his previous deal expired. After five seasons, the Penguins finally felt comfortable with him becoming a lineup regular on the bottom-pairing. Ceci left for the Oilers in free agency and no right-handed defensemen were brought in during the offseason.
Up against the cap, the Penguins gambled on Ruhwedel making a smooth transition to the increased role in hopes of getting some value out of an everyday defenseman on a near league-minimum contract.
The gamble paid off.
Ruhwedel played in 78 games and didn't appear out of place whatsoever, although he did hit a wall for a short period of time in the middle of the season. He scored four goals and totaled 13 points. When he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins generated 57.9% of the expected goals and took 54.1% of the shot attempts, per Evolving Hockey. Regardless of his quality of competition or ice time, those are very strong results.
In actual goals, the Penguins kept their heads above water at 51.4%, but that figure is severely diminished by Penguins goaltenders ceding nearly a half a goal more than expected every hour Ruhwedel spent on the ice (2.55 goals against per hour on 2.07 expected goals against per hour).
Despite the average goals against rate, Ruhwedel turned in a marvelous body of defensive work, illustrated by HockeyViz:
HockeyViz
Ruhwedel doesn't strike you as a staunch defensive presence. He's got an average build (5-foot-11, 191 pounds) and doesn't throw massive hits. Most of his defensive impact stems from his ability to read and react to the play along with his skating. A good bit of that takes place before the puck ever reaches the Penguins' zone, as Ruhwedel does a great job of either forcing the opposition to dump the puck in because of the space he occupies in the neutral zone, or using his feet to perfectly time and kill plays along the boards and at the blue line.
In the defensive zone Ruhwedel basically plays the role of a gnat. His average frame and skating allows him to stick with attackers as they cycle the puck behind the net and in the corners. He's constantly giving a little stick check here, a shove there, a shoulder when it might knock someone off the puck -- most within legality, of course.
He's typically a reliable breakout passer, if nothing flashy. When things don't go his way exiting the zone and the opposition storms back quickly, Ruhwedel always seems to end up in the right spot when recovering:
There's a calm and simplistic vibe to Ruhwedel's game. Even under pressure, he rarely appears fazed and isn't afraid to take hits to get the puck up ice. There's nothing highlight-reel worthy or exciting about it, but it's effective for him.
The risks he takes are typically calculated. In hockey, that doesn't ensure anything, though Ruhwedel's calm demeanor serves him well under duress.
In the following clip, Ruhwedel pinched in the neutral zone on a puck in midair. He ended up whiffing and, suddenly, the puck and a couple of Capitals skaters were behind him and rushing the other way. Instead of Ruhwedel immediately darting after the player that just burned him, he surveyed the ice and picked up a trailer, allowing his partner to shift over to the immediate threat while a backchecking forward picked up the streaker on the weak side of the ice:
Ruhwedel doesn't exactly deserve praise for not skating around like a chicken with its head cut off, but these subtleties are positively impacting sequences more often than not.
The Penguins also had a pretty strong attack when Ruhwedel was on the ice at five-on-five this past season. They scored 2.7 goals per hour and generated 2.84 expected goals per hour. Many of their chances came from the most dangerous area of the ice:
HockeyViz
Both rates were comfortably above-average. Ruhwedel wasn't really the driver of much of that offense (spending big chunks of time with Mike Matheson didn't hurt), but the smart plays he makes all over the ice can indirectly lead to chances and goals:
At risk of being absolutely creamed along the boards, Ruhwedel slowed to a glide and positioned himself in front of the oncoming forechecker rather than racing back to the puck only to end up with nowhere to go and a face full of shoulder pads. He was also sure to be the one that initiated contact as to not get knocked off balance. He didn't even end up making a play on the puck, but his actions sprung a rush the other way that resulted in a goal.
Going forward Ruhwedel might not produce another season that was quite as strong as his 2021-22 performance. That said, it can't be understated how important it was that he proved capable of being a regular.
For a player who likely could have left on several occasions to become a regular sooner, Ruhwedel deserves all the credit in the world for finally stepping into a full-time role and handling it with grace.
