Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal
The Brian Gibbons era in Pittsburgh is over, as his days with the Penguins are over. Yesterday the American-born Gibbons celebrated the Fourth of July by inking a brand new one-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
What is the Penguins loss will be the Blue Jackets gain.
According to @capgeek, Brian Gibbons will make $750k at NHL level and $300k in AHL next year; raise over $550/75 last year with #Pens
— Mike Colligan (@MikeColligan) July 5, 2014
It is unknown whether or not the Penguins made an effort to keep Gibbons.
Hypothetically, Pittsburgh could have offered him the same deal but Gibbons may have felt there is a better opportunity ahead for him next year in Columbus., even though the 26-year-old appeared to have the kind of speed and skill new head coach Mike Johnston would like when he takes over as bench boss this fall.
It is no secret that I thought Gibbons was a perfect fourth-line winger option for the Penguins that could also contribute positively to the Penguins' penalty-killing group. In a pinch you could bump him up in the lineup for short periods of time. I don't believe he is a top six guy in the NHL but when you need versatility in your lineup, Gibbons provides that.
Re-signing Gibbons would have fallen in line with some of the other value bottom six signings the Penguins have made recently (Marcel Goc, Steve Downie, and Blake Comeau).
Losing Gibbons is not going to make or break the Penguins, especially considering they have shifted away from players who are not effective like Joe Vitale, Tanner Glass, Deryk Engelland, and Taylor Pyatt.
But watching Gibbons leave for Columbus would have been a different story had the Penguins not already invested heavily in the remake of their bottom six forward grouping. The new grouping includes the aforementioned Goc, Downie, and Comeau but also includes Nick Spaling and Brandon Sutter (for now). If the Penguins land another top six winger you could also add Beau Bennett or Pascal Dupuis to the grouping.
The Penguins pretty much took napalm to their biggest weakness last year.
Columbus will be getting a player who had 17 points in 41 games last year while having a shot attempt for percentage of 51%.
Good luck to Brian Gibbons, I would have signed him, Penguins didn't, time to move on.
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal