Penguins A to Z: Brian Dumoulin continues to be underappreciated

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Player: Brian Dumoulin

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 207 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: 28 games, eight points (one goal, seven assists)

Contract: Third 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

This season: Even with a fairly severe injury, Brian Dumoulin probably was underappreciated. But that’s nothing new.

For seemingly any other team, losing a franchise pillar defenseman who logs more than 20 minutes on a regular basis to a skate cut on a ankle tendon that required roughly three months to convalescence would be a focal point of any success or failure.

But in the context of the 2019-20 Penguins, Dumoulin’s ailment was relegated to “Oh, and him, too” territory.

With the analysis or debate over injuries of high-profile teammates such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and, heck, even the departed Alex Galchenyuk taking up most of the oxygen, Dumoulin’s absence was easy to overlook.

But that’s kind of the story of Dumoulin’s career. Even as he has carved out a role as one of this team’s least replaceable components through two Stanley Cup runs, he often is overshadowed by his teammates.

But he might be their most consistent player when he’s able-bodied.

Bolted onto the top defensive pairing with Letang, Dumoulin is an “eraser” of sorts as he routinely draws ice time against the opposition’s top line, wiping out or limiting their freedom to create offensively. During the Penguins’ most recent game against the bitter rivals (and a potential playoff opponent), a 5-2 home loss to the Washington Capitals, Dumoulin logged 6 minutes, 25 seconds of common five-on-five ice time against all-star forward Alex Ovechkin, only surpassed by Letang’s (6:40) according to Natural Stat Trick.

Additionally, Dumoulin is one of the team’s top penalty-killers, having recorded 2:08 of short-handed ice time per game this season, and is routinely one of the first over the boards to open a penalty kill.

Blessed with a long reach, a good stick (i.e. an ability to disrupt an opposing player’s puckhandling or to prevent shots or passes), more than adequate skating ability and some finely tuned gap control, Dumoulin is everything you want in a modern defensive defenseman.

He also has emerged as one of the team’s leaders, regularly offering guidance to younger teammates and, by many accounts, being a vocal presence in the dressing room.

The future: It’s fair to wonder where Dumoulin’s skating will be whenever the NHL resumes play. He has played just five games in the past five months. And there were some signs he was still a bit rusty coming off his ankle injury as he lost a handful of one-on-one battles he normally would win.

But presumably, the NHL’s hiatus for the coronavirus pandemic will offer far more positives than negatives to Dumoulin as well as any other player who was dealing with an ailment, or the aftereffects of one, in March.

Regardless, whenever the Penguins next take the ice, it’s a safe bet to expect two things of Dumoulin:

• He’ll be back on the top pair drawing the toughest assignments.

• And he won’t be fully appreciated.