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Ehrhoff likely headed to free agency

Pittsburgh Penguins v Philadelphia Flyers

Christian Ehrhoff

Getty Images

Christian Ehrhoff’s agent said his client is probably done with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“For the moment I would suggest he’ll be available come July 1,” Rick Curran told PHT on Wednesday, the same day news of Ehrhoff’s house listing ran on Realtor’s Celebrity Real Estate page,

Ehrhoff, 32, signed a one-year, $4 million deal with Pittsburgh last July, not long after Buffalo bought out the remaining seven years of his 10-year, $40 million contract.

The signing came with significant fanfare. GM Jim Rutherford said it was a “good day,” adding that Pittsburgh was “very fortunate” to land the coveted offensive d-man, who’d generated plenty of interest. Many pundits thought Ehrhoff would fit in nicely, replacing some of the offense lost with Matt Niskanen signing in Washington.

But things didn’t go as planned. Ehrhoff’s offensive production was slow at the beginning of the season (though he did log big minutes, and played a steady top-four role.) In the second half of the year, concussion issues derailed his campaign; the German rearguard only played six games over the final three months of the season, missing 33 games all told.

Ehrhoff was then held out of Pittsburgh’s opening-round playoff loss to the Rangers.

"[Ehrhoff] just hasn’t been progressing,” head coach Mike Johnston said midway through the series, per NHL.com. “That’s the step that’s been taken and it’s because he’s sort of flat-lined in his recovery and will be progressing from there.”

PHT emailed Curran for an update on his client’s health, but did not receive a reply.

Update: Curran tells the Post-Gazette that Ehrhoff “has been given a clean bill of health.”

Ehrhoff’s health will certainly play a role in how much interest Ehrhoff garners on the open market. While he’s no longer the offensive producer he was in Vancouver a few years ago -- he scored 44 and a career-high 50 points with the Canucks in 2009-10 and ’10-11 -- Ehrhoff, when healthy, remains a capable puck-mover that averaged nearly 22 minutes last year.

As for the Pens, this move could suggest they’ll try and retain veteran d-man Paul Martin. Martin proved a dependable presence in the wake of all the injuries on defense last year, and averaged nearly 25 minutes per night against the Rangers.