In exchange, the Canucks have sent forward Nick Bonino, defenceman Adam Clendening and a second-round pick in 2016 to Pittsburgh.
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The Vancouver Canucks have acquired Brandon Sutter from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In other news, the Penguins signed free agent forward Eric Fehr to a three-year, $6 million deal.
Nick Bonino, 27, tallied 15 goals and 39 points last year for a playoff team in Vancouver.
In Sutter, the Penguins lose a 20-goal scorer, but his $3.3 million dollar salary coming off the books was key for the Pens to be able to sign Fehr.
“I like our depth at forward now”.
“I kind of heard some things (leading into the 2014 trade deadline) and wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and I was (relatively) new to Pittsburgh and was pretty shocked at that point”, recalled Sutter, the son of former National Hockey League centre Brent Sutter, who coached him in the WHL at Red Deer.
So why, exactly, were the Canucks left paying a premium in prospect wealth (Clendening) and draft picks?
Sutter is a legitimately good defensive centre in my estimation, and has generally fared well by the shot based metrics when he’s been fortunate enough to play with competent line mates (like healthy Beau Bennett or Steve Downie).
Sutter’s advanced statistics showed him to be among the worst possession players on the Penguins, and he’s never finished above 50% in his career. He excelled in the AHL playoffs with the Utica Comets, with three goals and eight points in 23 games and was a plus-7.
“Hopefully in the next few days we can get something figured out”, said Sutter, who was selected 11th overall in the 2007 draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. And what the team lost in Brandon Sutter, they gained back just minutes later with the signing of Eric Fehr.
Sutter had first been rumoured to be on his way to Vancouver at the 2014 trade deadline, when he was linked to a possible trade involving Ryan Kesler.
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“I think the West has gotten real fast”, Benning said. Clendening had two assists in 17 games with the Canucks last season. “I think doing this move, it makes our team deeper and it gives us a better chance to compete”.
