Criticism
On March 2, 2015, Simon Despres a talented young defenseman, was sent to Anaheim for Ben Lovejoy,[8] an older defenseman already at peak potential. This trade was universally panned by NHL media,[9][10][11][12][13] with fans calling it "The Worst Trade in Penguins history, since the Markus Naslund Trade".[14][15] The Penguins subsequently lost much of their regular season games following the trade, and exited the 2015 playoffs in quick fashion.[16] Some have attributed this breakdown to Rob Scuderi's lack of defensive capability without having Despres as a "security blanket". Others have attributed the failure to Lovejoy, having been on the ice for 10 of the total 11 goals scored by the New York Rangers.[17][18] Meanwhile in Anaheim, Simon Despres has a commanding 5 assists and is a +6 skater, while logging over 18 minutes of ice time per night, in 9 playoff games.[19] Rutherford later commented publicly that the one trade he regretted making for the Penguins was the Despres for Lovejoy trade. [20]