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Photo of Chad Ruhwedel

Chad Ruhwedel

#5 · Defence · Free agent, last with the New York Rangers

Born May 7, 1990 in San Diego, California, USA · 5'11", 189 lb · Shoots right

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Nick Holden VGK · 2 P in 17 GP Bowen Byram COL · 2 P in 19 GP Braydon Coburn NYI · 2 P in 19 GP William Lagesson EDM · 2 P in 19 GP Carl Gunnarsson STL · 2 P in 12 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

05102012-13: 0 points012-132013-14: 1 points113-142014-15: 1 points114-152015-16: 0 points015-162016-17: 10 points1016-172017-18: 5 points517-182018-19: 2 points218-192019-20: 6 points619-202020-21: 2 points220-212021-22: 13 points1321-222022-23: 5 points522-232023-24: 4 points423-242024-25: 1 points124-25

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2012-13 BUF 7 0 0 0 0 0 8 7 0.00 $925K
2013-14 BUF 21 0 1 1 -3 2 35 20 0.05 $925K
2014-15 BUF 4 0 1 1 3 0 4 6 0.25 $650K
2015-16 BUF 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0.00 $650K
2016-17 PIT 34 2 8 10 9 8 45 36 0.29 $575K
2017-18 PIT 44 2 3 5 -8 16 67 67 0.11 $650K
2018-19 PIT 18 1 1 2 -9 4 22 40 0.11 $650K
2019-20 PIT 41 2 4 6 4 12 44 74 0.15 $700K
2020-21 PIT 17 0 2 2 3 14 16 32 0.12 $700K
2021-22 PIT 78 4 9 13 2 14 82 149 0.17 $750K
2022-23 PIT 47 1 4 5 -4 18 36 90 0.11 $800K
2023-24 PIT 47 1 3 4 -4 4 34 75 0.09 $800K
2023-24 NYR 5 0 0 0 -2 0 1 15 0.00
2024-25 NYR 5 0 1 1 2 0 1 8 0.20 $775K
13 seasons Career 369 13 37 50 -7 94 396 622 0.14

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2016-17 PIT 6 0 0 0 -3 4 11 12 0.00
2017-18 PIT 12 0 0 0 -2 2 9 26 0.00
2021-22 PIT 7 0 0 0 2 0 7 12 0.00
3 seasons Playoffs 25 0 0 0 -3 6 27 50 0.00

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
17 0 2 2 3 14 16 32 0.12 0.0 14:42

Contract

$700KCap hitends in 2021, then extended to 2022
$350KCap dollars per point2 points in 17 games
$14.974MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.0 goals above replacement

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 23, 2019, as an extension of the contract he was on: 2 years and $1.4M, beginning in 2019-20. It runs through 2020-21, so this is its last season, and his extension takes over. His next contract is already signed: an extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug 28, 2020, 1 year and $750K at $750K a season, beginning in 2021-22.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2019-20 $700K $700K $0 $700K
2020-21 $700K $700K $0 $700K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2025-26 to 2025-26 $775K
Jul 12, 2024 New York Rangers New contract (two-way) 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
Feb 19, 2022 Pittsburgh Penguins Extension 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $1.6M $800K
Aug 28, 2020 Pittsburgh Penguins Extension not begun 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $750K $750K
May 23, 2019 Pittsburgh Penguins Extension 2019-20 to 2020-21 2 $1.4M $700K
Jun 22, 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins Extension 2017-18 to 2018-19 2 $1.3M $650K
Jul 1, 2016 Pittsburgh Penguins New contract 2016-17 to 2016-17 1 $575K $575K
Jul 16, 2014 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2014-15 to 2015-16 2 $1.3M $650K
Apr 13, 2013 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2012-13 to 2013-14 2 $1.95M $925K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 analytics

Rating

+0.0Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.7Even-strength defence+1.2Power play0.0Penalty kill-0.1Penalties-1.1

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-202468102012-132014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232024-25Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

54.1Corsi for %190 attempts for, 161 against
+3.4CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.7Expected goals for %7.5 expected for, 6.2 against
+6.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
57.1Goals for %8 for, 6 against
101.3PDO7.9% shooting + 93.3% saves
41Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Cody Ceci · Chad Ruhwedel862:1958.758.21-1
Chad Ruhwedel · Marcus Pettersson750:0951.968.82-0
Chad Ruhwedel · Pierre-Olivier Joseph732:0656.149.82-0
Chad Ruhwedel · John Marino717:1856.351.92-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.4Expected goalsfrom 25 unblocked attempts
-0.4Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.09 expected goals per 60 minutes6th
Shot quality 1.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.4 goals above expected46thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 218 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.4Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
May 8, 2021 vs BUF W 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 12:45
Mar 16, 2021 vs BOS L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12:31
Mar 15, 2021 vs BOS W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 12:55
Mar 13, 2021 @ BUF W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 14:52
Mar 11, 2021 @ BUF W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 13:35
Feb 14, 2021 vs WSH W 6-3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 15:17
Feb 11, 2021 @ NYI W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14:53
Feb 6, 2021 @ NYI L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 16:06
Feb 1, 2021 @ NYR L 1-3 0 1 1 1 4 1 3 15:32
Jan 30, 2021 @ NYR W 5-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 22:52
Jan 28, 2021 @ BOS L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 0 0 6 13:46
Jan 26, 2021 @ BOS L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 12:36
Jan 24, 2021 vs NYR W 3-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 10:58
Jan 22, 2021 vs NYR W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 13:23
Jan 19, 2021 vs WSH W 5-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 2 0 3 17:36
Jan 17, 2021 vs WSH W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 14:47
Jan 15, 2021 @ PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 15:23