Rutherford Couldn’t Pass Up Opportunity to Acquire Matheson and Sceviour

Jim Rutherford’s plan this offseason was to re-tool the Penguins roster so that the team could continue competing for Stanley Cups. In order to help aid that quest, the Penguins general manager had to trade the first player he acquired after coming to Pittsburgh.

On Thursday, the Penguins acquired defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour from the Florida Panthers in exchange for winger Patric Hornqvist on Thursday.

Rutherford admitted it was a difficult decision to part ways with the 33-year-old veteran, who was a huge part of the team’s success over the last six seasons – including their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. 

But Rutherford felt that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to acquire the 26-year-old Matheson along with the 31-year-old Sceviour, a move that comes a few weeks after Pittsburgh added 24-year-old forward Kasperi Kapanen from Toronto.

“We talked about getting younger, making some changes and trying to transition on the fly,” Rutherford said in a conference call with the media on Thursday. “We had a chance to get a good, young defenseman that has a high skill level, and also a right winger that’s a good player that plays his role very well. So we felt that we should do this.”

Rutherford acknowledged that the loss of Hornqvist will be certainly be felt, but it’s one that other players in the locker room are going to have to step up and fill.

“I have nothing but great things to say about him as a person and as a player,” Rutherford said of Hornqvist. “He is one of the very top character players in our league with his leadership. That’s why Florida wanted him. They want to change their culture, similar to what I talked about when I first came to Pittsburgh. 

“So we’ll miss him, but when you miss a player like that, other players have to fill in the gap. Players have to mature, and hopefully there are players that have learned from Patric, and learned some of the things that he does so well to help other players.”

Matheson joins the Penguins after a season where he finished with eight goals – which led all Panthers defensemen – and 20 points in 59 games. 

Overall, he’s recorded 33 goals, 58 assists and 91 points in 299 NHL games, all with Florida. He eclipsed the 10-goal plateau once in 2017-18, and has scored at least seven goals in each of his four full seasons in the NHL.

And Rutherford believes that Matheson’s game will continue to grow and mature in Pittsburgh under the tutelage of the Penguins coaching staff – particularly assistant coach Todd Reirden.

Reirden, who is returning to Pittsburgh after six seasons on the Washington Capitals coaching staff, has a proven track record for developing young defenseman. Kris Letang played some of the best hockey in his career during Reirden’s first stint as an assistant coach from 2010-14, and John Carlson became a Norris Trophy finalist last season.

“I just feel with the way that Mike Sullivan handles players and with the addition of Todd Reirden and how he handled the Penguins defenseman when he was here as an assistant coach is going to be helpful to Mike,” Rutherford said. “He’s got a pretty good package there. He can really skate. He’s got a good shot. He plays the way that we like to play. I feel that he’ll fit into our system very nicely.”

Matheson is a left-handed shot, which Rutherford confirmed will likely mean that someone on the blue line will have to play on their off side. 

“Matheson has played the right side a little bit,” he said. “But there is a logjam there, and something will have to give.”

Meanwhile, adding a forward to bolster Pittsburgh’s depth up top – especially with the loss of Hornqvist – is an added bonus to the deal. 

Sceviour has played in 454 career NHL games split between Dallas and Florida, where he’s registered 59 goals, 82 assists and 141 points. Last season, his 172:32 minutes of shorthanded time on ice in 2019-20 paced all Florida skaters, and was eighth-most among all NHL forwards. 

“Colton is a solid veteran player who has a lot of experience on the penalty kill,” Rutherford said.

Matheson is signed through the 2025-26 season and his contract carries an average annual value of $4.875 million. Sceviour is signed through the 2020-21 campaign and his deal carries an average annual value of $1.2 million.

So with Hornqvist’s hit of $5.3 million off the books, the Penguins ultimately added $775,000 to their salary cap. And while Rutherford admitted he’s not completely comfortable with the team’s current cap situation, he feels confident that he can make it work.

“I’m comfortable to the point that we control the fact that we can stay at compliance,” Rutherford said. “But I think we’re probably like two-thirds of the teams in the league. We were told last January the cap might be 86, 87 (million), then we were told it’s probably going to be 84 (million). Then of course, with COVID everything changed and we have a flat cap this year and next year. It’s difficult to manage, but at least we’re in a position now that we can be cap compliant within our own control.”