Sutter....he is kind of good

Some of this post will be redundant if you are one of the few crazy enough to read my posts on a regular basis.  I posted right after the Sutter/Staal trade was announced that I thought given the circumstances in which Staal had rejected a ten year/60 million dollar offer from the Penguins, and was one season away from being a UFA, the fact that Shero got a player the caliber of Sutter in return for Staal amazed me.  If you add to that the fact that he ALSO got former 2nd round pick Brian Dumoulin, a highly touted 6'4" defenseman, and the 8th overall pick which turned out to be Derrick Poulliot in addition to Sutter for soon to be UFA Staal, the deal seemed to be an unreal return given the circumstances.  Staal is a player who will remain a favorite of mine, a player who filled my head with so many memories, not the least of which was the shorthanded goal he scored in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2009, that to me, not only tied the game at 2-2, but likely turned the tide of the series in favor of the Penguins, and ultimately led to the third Stanley Cup in Penguins history!

I will never forget that moment, as the goal was scored right in front of my family, and the building erupted!  I wish Staalsy could have remained a Penguin, but if he had to go, I am pretty happy with the return when you analyze it in full.  Sutter carries a 2M less cap hit this season, and 4M less cap hit than Staal next season, which will allow the Penguins to carry some other talent on top of Sutter to replace Staalsy.  To put this in perspective, Sutter and Kunitz combined will be just under the Staal cap hit for next season.  I think it is safe to say that if thought of in those terms, the deal looks pretty damn good for Pittsburgh.  If you factor in the value that Dumoulin and Pouliot will add either by growing into their top two pairing projections or by getting a return as part of another trade for Pittsburgh either directly or indirectly, the return value is pretty amazing.  Staal definitely wanted the chance to be a top 2 line center, and given the fact he was kind of close to his brother Eric, getting this package for Staal is even more impressive.

In short the value of Sutter, the additional cap space, and the long term value of the Dumoulin and Pouliot portion of the trade, this will be a very adequate replacement of a player even the caliber of Jordan Staal.  The impatient fan base here was a little tough on Sutter when he was slow to start from an offensive standpoint, forgetting that he not only had to deal with a completely different system, different linemantes/teammates, but he did that without the normal benefit of a training camp and exhibition games.  The condensed schedule also cut down on practice time between games, so Sutter had a lot of extra issues that would hinder anybody making such a change in job status.  And oh yeah, the penalty kill woes were also blamed on Sutter by some.  Well folks, the PK after nearly two years of top performance starting to suck on this level in March of last year, and remained a thorn in the side of the Pens and a key reason for their playoff woes while Staal was still the key player on the unit.  It did not slide due to Sutter taking Staal's place.  It is also important to note that although it is a small sample size, Sutter currently has goals against of 1.7 GA per 60 minutes, while Staal currently has a 3.7 GA per 60 minutes and had a 2.8 GA per 60 minutes last year.  Sutter has 8 goals to Staal's 6 despite minimal power play time, and being saddled most nights with Tyler Kennedy on his wing.  That is like taking a butter knife to a gunfight!  Sutter also has a +6 rating for the year compared to Staal's -3.  Staal does have 12 assists to Sutter's 5, but he also gets far more power play time, and plays with far better wingers.  As far as clutch goals, Sutter is 9th in the league with 3 game winning goals, and should have had a goal v Philadelphia that would have stolen at least a point in the last minute if Vokoun had been able to find his ass with either hand that night.  The fact that Voracek killed the improbable comeback 33 seconds later had no bearing on the fact that Sutter had shown us a glimpse of the near future by scoring a clutch goal for the Penguins!  Some of those goals are to follow here:

GWG 2.5.13 v Islanders

Game tying goal 2.20.13 v Flyers

Gamre tying and game winning goals v Boston

Jordan Staal will be a favorite player of mine forever, but I am sure Brandon Sutter will rank right up there over time, providing plenty of his own memories.  Bank on it!