A few days after he was bought out by the Buffalo Sabres, Christian Ehrhoff is taking his talents to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Drafted 106th overall in 2001 by the San Jose Sharks, Ehrhoff has been in the league for 10 seasons. Usually a solid stay-at-home defenseman, Ehrhoff has a knack to chip in offensively as well. He has amassed 313 career points in 692 games, only playing all 82 possible games once in his career and more than 75 six times in the last eight seasons. Ehrhoff has been to the playoffs six times, all from 2005-2011. He played in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final with the Vancouver Canucks, and in that postseason he posted a playoff best for defencemen with 12 points. This past season was a solid one for Ehrhoff’s standards as he chipped in with 33 points, his most since his career-high 50 point season in 2010-11. However, in the middle of a rebuilding stage in Buffalo, he was an atrocious -27. That number should be taken with a grain of salt though.
Coming to the Penguins on a one year deal worth $4 million, he will be expected to be a top four defenseman who is reasonable in his own zone and can have timely contributions on offense. Coming off of a deal in which his cap hit was $4 million, but was heavily front loaded this deal is a decrease from the $22 million he was scheduled to make over the last three years (without a lockout), and it is a team friendly/risky contract for the Pens. Still, with the hole the team had on their blueline , Ehrhoff will come in and fill it nicely. He won’t be flashy really electrifying about it, but he settles the game down nicely. At age 31, he still has a lot to offer. Looking ahead to the 2014-15 season, it will be interesting to see how Ehrhoff fits in with his new team.
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