Ottawa Senators trade for defenceman Erik Gudbranson

The Ottawa native returns to his hometown in a swap with Anaheim

Gudbranson 28, split the season between Pittsburgh and Anaheim where he played 51 games, producing 9 points and 91 penalty minutes. Measuring in at 6’5″ and 216 pounds, Gudbranson is a physical, defensive defenceman who is “hard to play against”.

Gudbranson is signed for this season carrying a $4 million cap hit and a $3 million salary, a little bit pricey for a 7th defenceman but helps the team reach the cap floor. At the start of the season, Ottawa could be marching out Nikita Zaitsev, Erik Gudbranson and Josh Brown on the right-side, not an ideal situation for a team that has struggled one defence over the last few seasons.

One thing Gudbranson will bring to the Senators is character, he had a big voice in the fight against police brutality and equality after the murder of George Floyd and spoke out in an article featured on Sportsnet.

“I stayed silent. I won’t do that anymore. We all have a voice and all of our voices are needed to combat this injustice”

Gudbranson grew up working out with NHL defenceman and former Senator Mark Fraser who is black and they developed a great bond. Throughout the protests in North America, Gudbranson contacted Fraser and asked about the best course of action. Despite Gudbranson admitting to keeping stuff to himself, he knew this was a matter he had to speak out about.

The towering-defenceman is also very helpful in the community and will be very comfortable coming back to his hometown.

The Senators are gaining a very good human being in Gudbranson and he should be a great example off the ice for all the prospects climbing up the ranks.