It's been a little more than four years since the Penguins sent a third-round draft choice to Edmonton for a reclamation project of a defenseman named Justin Schultz.
At the time, some observers wondered if even that modest price Jim Rutherford paid for him was too much.
After all, Schultz's game had deteriorated during his time with the Oilers. He had gone to Edmonton as a college free agent with great fanfare, but the cheers from Oilers partisans were even louder when he was on his way out of town.
It didn't take long for Rutherford's gamble to be rewarded, though. Schultz helped the Penguins win a Stanley Cup just a few months after he arrived, then played a prominent role when they won another championship the following year.
The turnaround in his career is, the Penguins hope, a template for what Mike Matheson can accomplish.
They acquired Matheson and blue-collar right winger Colton Sceviour from Florida Thursday for right winger Patric Hornqvist, a mainstay on their title-winning teams in 2016 and 2017.
Sceviour, 31, figures to play on the third or fourth line and kill penalties, but Matheson, who is 26, has the potential to have a far greater impact on his new team.
For now, he appears to be penciled in on the No. 3 defense pairing, but there likely will be more roster changes for the Penguins before next season, so all personnel combinations are fluid, at best.
"He has the ability to go higher (than the third pairing)," Rutherford said. "We'll see how camp goes and how (Mike Sullivan and Todd Reirden) use him and put our defense together. But he certainly has the ability to be a second-pair guy at some point in time."
Rutherford even floated the possibility of trying Matheson, who is a left-shot, on the right side because of the Penguins' surplus of left-handed defensemen.
"Somebody's going to have to play the right side," he said. "Matheson has played the right side a little bit. There's a logjam there, and something will have to give."
Sceviour has a salary-cap hit of $1.2 million, and will be an unrestricted free agent after next season.
"He's a good, useful guy," Rutherford said. "He can move up in the lineup when you need him to. As long as he's using his foot speed, he can help our team."
Matheson has six years remaining on a contract with a cap hit of $4.875 million.
The Panthers signed him to an eight-year deal after the 2017-18 season, when he had a career-high 27 points and looked to be an integral part of their defense corps for years. His play subsequently slipped, however, and he was a healthy scratch for Florida's final two games in its qualifying-round series against the New York Islanders last month.
Rutherford acknowledged the flaws in Matheson's game, but obviously wasn't deterred by them.
"If I was worried," he said, "I wouldn't make the trade."
Matheson is prone to turning over the puck, a trait that did not go over well with his coaches in Florida, and that translated to reduced ice time and responsibilities for him. Not surprisingly, that seemed to affect Matheson's confidence, which further affected his play.
Penguins coaches don't care much for giving the puck away, either, but generally are more tolerant than most if the player in question can be a significant contributor. (Think, Kris Letang.)
It seems reasonable to believe that Matheson will be given the opportunity to either exorcise the giveaways from his game or prove that he deserves to stay on the ice despite them.
"With the skill level that Mike has and the way Mike Sullivan handles players and the addition of Todd Reirden ... is going to be helpful to (Matheson)," Rutherford said. "He's got a pretty good (skills) package there. He can really skate. He plays the way we like to play. He's got a good shot. I feel that he'll fit into our system very nicely."
Hornqvist was extremely popular with the fan base and his teammates, and had to waive a no-trade clause to make the deal happen. He contemplated that for a couple of days before deciding to join the Panthers.
"He didn't want to leave Pittsburgh," Rutherford said. "This is where the best things in his career took place. He had to think through that, talk to his family about it, do all the things that anybody would do.
"It wasn't a decision he was going to make within an hour, and I don't blame him. He earned the right when he got this contract, coming off two Stanley Cups and 31 goals, to have a no-trade clause in his contract for the first three seasons."
And while he called the leadership of the Penguins into question after consecutive playoff flops, Rutherford's respect and affection for Hornqvist, a member of that leadership group, is obvious.
"He was the first guy I acquired when I came to Pittsburgh," Rutherford said. "And he's played a big role in the success of the team over the years he was here, especially the two Stanley Cup years.
"He brought a change to the Penguins in his leadership role, and changed the culture a little bit. I have nothing but great things to say about him as a person and as a player.
"We'll miss him, but when you miss a player like that, other players have to fill in the gap."
