Penguins A to Z: Chad Ruhwedel finally becomes a regular in the lineup
With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
Chad Ruhwedel
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 32
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 191 pounds
2021-22 NHL statistics: 78 games, 13 points (four goals, nine assists)
Contract: On a one-year contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Entering a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $800,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2016
Last season: For most of his time with the Penguins, the main question with Chad Ruhwedel was when would he play.
The Penguins always seemed to have three right-handed defensemen that were better than him and their places were secure in the lineup.
So Ruhwedel’s main ice time came during practice (and often for 10 or 20 minutes after practice). On the occasions one of the incumbent right-handers became injured, Ruhwedel would plug into the lineup and offer some safe, reliable — and unremarkable — performances.
But after the Penguins were unable to re-sign defenseman Cody Ceci during the 2021 offseason, those questions about Ruhwedel’s ice time diminished.
For the first time in his 10-year career, Ruhwedel became a regular in an NHL lineup.
Setting a career-high in games played — his previous best was 44 in 2017-18 — Ruhwedel was entrenched on the Penguins’ bottom pairing. Primarily teamed with the aggressive Mike Matheson, Ruhwedel served as an ideal countermeasure on the occasions Matheson’s trips up ice led to potential offensive chances against.
While he wasn’t about to make anyone forget Kris Letang, Ruhwedel also set career highs in goals, assists and points. The highlight of his season from that standpoint was the game-opening goal and assist he recorded in a 7-2 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 23.
Averaging 15:20 of total ice time per contest, Ruhwedel also further established himself as a key component of the team’s sturdy penalty kill, averaging 1:46 of short-handed ice time per contest.
Really, the only down part of Ruhwedel’s career season came in mid-November when he missed four games for reasons related to covid-19.
On Feb. 19, the team signed the reliable defender to a two-year contract extension.
In the Penguins’ first-round series loss to the New York Rangers, Ruhwedel appeared in seven games and did not record a point.
The future: Ruhwedel appears to be set to once against man the right side of the third pairing given the new contract he signed.
Largely, nothing happens — good or bad — when he is on the ice. And that’s a compliment to be sure.
That said, Ruhwedel isn’t an inert element on the ice. He’s a swift skater, he can get the puck up ice to the team’s talented forwards and is willing to sacrifice his body defensively. He just isn’t all that flamboyant about it.
A decade into his NHL career, Chad Ruhwedel finally became a regular in the lineup. And he’s going to stay that way.
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.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.