Penguin A to Z: Jonathan Gruden could be more than a throw-in
As the NHL prepares for a new season expected to start in mid-January, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 48 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.
Jonathan Gruden
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Age: 20
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 172 pounds
2019-20 OHL statistics: 59 games, 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists)
Contract: First year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $788,333. Pending restricted free agent in 2023
Acquired: Trade, Oct. 7, 2020
Last season: A fourth-round selection (No. 95 overall) of the Ottawa Senators in 2018, Gruden labored through an unimpressive freshman season at Miami (Ohio) in 2018-19. Appearing in 38 NCAA games for a poor RedHawks team, Gruden put up only 15 points (three goals, 12 assists).
That April, he opted to sign his entry-level deal with the Senators and jumped to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), joining the London Knights, one of the premier franchises in all of junior hockey. The Knights had selected him in the fifth round (No. 100 overall) of that league’s priority draft in 2016.
Working on London’s top line, Gruden skated on the left wing as a complementary piece to NHL first-rounders Liam Foudy (Columbus Blue Jackets, 2018) and Connor McMichael (Washington Capitals, 2019).
By the time the OHL halted play in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Knights were in first place of the Western Conference with a 45-15-2 record thanks in part to Gruden, who finished second on the team with 30 goals.
On the second day of this year’s NHL draft, the Penguins acquired Gruden along with a second-round draft pick (No. 52 overall) from the Senators in exchange for Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray.
The future: In the immediate sense, Gruden can return to London for an overage season at the junior level or begin his professional career, presumably at the American Hockey League level.
That decision is out of anyone’s control at the moment as the OHL isn’t scheduled to begin its 2020-21 season until Feb. 4 while the AHL is slated to begin Feb. 5. Each of those dates appear to be moving targets due to the uncertain nature of the pandemic.
Should Gruden join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he would likely inhabit a bottom-six role to open the campaign.
The son of New York Islanders assistant coach John Gruden (himself a former NHL defenseman), Jonathan Gruden lives up to all the cliches of being the son of a coach. That’s to say he’s attentive to the details of the game and has the proverbial “high hockey IQ.” A lot of his goals come from areas directly near the cage, not through blood-and-guts battles but through calculated precision.
A little bit on the light side, Gruden, a native of Rochester, Mich., could stand to add some muscle to his frame whenever he jumps to the AHL, particularly if he wants to make a living around the blue paint and withstand the rigors the professional game offers.
A long-term project for the Penguins’ development staff, Gruden offers plenty of intrigue, even as a mid-level prospect, and could prove to be more than merely a throw-in from a trade.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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