Penguins A to Z: Brian Dumoulin remains a bargain
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.
Brian Dumoulin
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 29
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 207 pounds
2019-20 NHL statistics: 28 games, eight points (one goal, seven assists)
Contract: Fourth year of a six-year contract with a salary cap hit of $4.1 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2023
Acquired: Trade, June 22, 2012
Last season: In many ways, Brian Dumoulin was a perfect allegory to the 2019-20 edition of the Penguins.
He started off well, got injured and staggered the final weeks of the season before the NHL halted play in mid-March because of the pandemic.
As has been the case since the 2016 playoffs, Dumoulin opened the campaign as the yin to defensive partner Kris Letang’s yang. As Letang would regularly take offensive chances that occasionally — or far too often, if you listen to his critics — resulted in offensive chances for the opposition, Dumoulin was in place to serve as an eraser.
On Nov. 30, 2019, Dumoulin suffered a serious injury when he lacerated tendons in his left ankle only a handful of seconds into a game at St. Louis on Nov. 30.
The Penguins played fairly well in his absence, going 22-12-2 by the time he returned to the lineup March 3.
But once he was back on the ice, something seemed off. One-on-one battles Dumoulin normally would win in a clean, concise fashion and turn into transitions up the ice became toss-ups.
Any hopes of Dumoulin ironing out the wrinkles to his game went unfulfilled as the NHL went into pause nine days after he returned to the lineup.
When the league restarted in August for its postseason tournament, Dumoulin was back where he belonged on the top pairing with Letang for the Penguins’ preliminary-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Dumoulin was a mostly reliable albeit somewhat inert presence through all four games of the series, aside from an ill-timed pinch on a goal by Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki in Game 1.
The Penguins had plenty of problems that led to their quick demise in the postseason. Dumoulin wasn’t one of them.
The future: Because of his injury and the pandemic, Dumoulin has been limited to nine games over the past 12 months.
Nine.
So, if the NHL does restart in mid-January, as hoped, he should be rested whenever the Penguins resume playing.
Assuming Dumoulin does get back to the sterling level of play he typically offers, he’ll continue to be a bargain at $4.1 million.
Considering the minutes he commands in five-on-five (18:16) and short-handed (2:08) scenarios, the demanding task of being partnered with Letang and his emergence as one of the team’s more vocal leaders, Dumoulin, at $4.1 million, is a steal when you look at defensemen with similar salary cap hits who aren’t nearly as impactful such as Damon Severson ($4,166,666) of the New Jersey Devils or Nikita Zaitsev ($4.5 million) of the Ottawa Senators.
When the Penguins return to the ice, he again likely will be one of their most important players — albeit in a subtle fashion.
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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