Ruhwedel ready for familiar annual challenge
Chad Ruhwedel was among the early birds hitting the ice this week at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry for some informal workouts.
Wednesday, the Californian joined forward Jake Guentzel and fellow defenseman Jack Johnson in a relatively laid-back skate led by former Penguin Jay Caufield. They worked up a sweat but also cracked some smiles while picking on the poor guys they found to play goalie.
In a couple of weeks, the intensity will ramp up when Ruhwedel starts his third Penguins training camp in the all-too-familiar position of needing to prove he deserves one of the last spots on the squad.
He nodded knowingly when asked about his status entering training camp.
“Yeah, yup. Pretty much like every year,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s always a battle for lineup spots, and it’s something I’ll be ready for.”
Two years ago, Ruhwedel left the Buffalo Sabres to join the Penguins as a free agent on a one-year, two-way deal. He split time between the Penguins and their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre before earning the opportunity to suit up for six games in their Stanley Cup run.
Back on a two-year deal, he started last season in the lineup before taking Matt Hunwick’s seat in the press box. When Hunwick faltered, the Penguins turned back to Ruhwedel, who played a career-high 44 games in the regular season and a dozen more in the playoffs.
Ruhwedel is back in a similar situation after the team signed Johnson for $16.25 million over five years and kept Jamie Oleksiak with a three-year deal worth $2,137,500 a year. Those financial commitments suggest the Penguins would prefer Ruhwedel ends up being their seventh or eighth defenseman.
But he will have some say in the matter.
Ruhwedel said he didn’t focus on “anything too specific” while gearing up for another fight to land a regular role to open the season, although there was one significant change this summer: He married Elle VanConia, to whom he had been engaged since Christmas Eve 2016.
Other than that, Ruhwedel’s focus remained mostly on hockey.
He took advantage of an offseason that was a few weeks longer than the Penguins had become accustomed to, “just getting the body right for the season.” But now, back in Pittsburgh, he’s ready to roll.
“Obviously, last summer we had a little more excitement,” Ruhwedel said. “[This summer,] we’re a little more excited to get going. We’ve just been antsy and ready to try to get back to that spot.”