Gudbranson traded to Penguins by Canucks for Pearson

Erik Gudbranson was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Vancouver Canucks for Tanner Pearson on Monday.

Gudbranson, a 27-year-old defenseman, has eight points (two goals, six assists) in 57 games this season. Selected by the Florida Panthers with the No. 3 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, he has 62 points (16 goals, 46 assists) in 448 regular-season games with the Panthers and Canucks, and no points in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Penguins acquired Gudbranson two days after their top-pair defensemen, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin, were injured in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series on Saturday. Letang is day to day with an upper-body injury and Dumoulin is out with a concussion.
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"Even without the injuries, getting the type of player that Gudbranson is was something that we've talked about for a while," Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He wasn't available, to my knowledge, until today. So we're very pleased to bring Erik in to join our team."
Pearson, a 26-year-old forward, has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 61 games this season, including 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in 44 games with the Penguins, who acquired him in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 14.
"We think he is going to be a good fit, either playing with Petey (Elias Pettersson) or Bo (Horvat), so he's just another guy that can score for us," Canucks GM Jim Benning said. "When that came across my desk and we talked to Jim Rutherford about it and talked to our guys, we figured we are getting a good hockey player back. … We're hoping he comes in and fits in with our group and gives us another top-six forward that scores."
Selected by Los Angeles with the No. 30 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Pearson has 158 points (78 goals, 80 assists) in 369 regular-season games with the Kings and Penguins, and 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 34 playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2014.

Pittsburgh also acquired Chris Wideman from the Florida Panthers for minor-league forward Jean-Sebastien Dea. Wideman, a 29-year-old defenseman, had seven points (two goals, five assists) in 25 games this season with the Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers and Panthers. Wideman was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
"He gives us depth on defense," Rutherford said. "He's a smaller guy, a puck-moving guy. He's played some games in the League. He has some experience. He could see some time here at some point too."
The Penguins (32-22-8), who are tied in points with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, play at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (ESPN+, FS-O, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV).
The Canucks (26-28-8), who are six points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, host the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-W, NHL.TV).