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Why Ryan Garbutt Must Be Traded

By JP Powell

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Nov 25, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing

Ryan Garbutt

(16) skates against the Edmonton Oilers during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Oilers 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Garbutt as been suspended twice this season by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for a couple of dirty or reckless plays. Could a big change fix the problem?

Ryan Garbutt has been a bit of a distraction so far this season for the Dallas Stars. He has been suspended twice for a total of five games and has 24 penalty minutes in 26 games. While his undisciplined, sometimes downright dirty, play hasn’t been the main problem for the Stars slow start, it is certainly a factor.

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After Ryan Garbutt’s first suspension this season Stars’ head coach Lindy Ruff was tired of Garbutt’s “reckless” play. Garbutt responded by having a good, clean playing game (he was charged with one minor penalty, but that was a questionable call). That, however, didn’t last long. He was soon back to his old tricks and within a two week period he was suspended for second time, this time for slew-footing Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien. Earlier in that same game Ryan Garbutt also tripped the Jets’s goalie in yet another dirty play.

This isn’t a new trend, either. Ryan Garbutt was suspended five games in October of 2013 for charging Anaheim Ducks’ forward Dustin Penner. Garbutt was also ejected from game 5 of the first round of the 2013-2014 playoffs when he gave Corey Perry of the Ducks a cup check by spearing him. That was payback for the cup check Perry gave Stars captain Jamie Benn earlier in the series, but Ryan Garbutt made it way to obvious and it ended up hurting the team. 

In fact, it’s reached the point where former Stars player (and current Blues forward) Steve Ott felt he needed to comment:

"“It is hard for players who are walking the line. What’s keeping you in the league is that edge, so you don’t want to lose that edge. But I think the more you play, the more you understand how to stay on the good side of that line. It takes some time.” —Steve Ott on Ryan Garbutt’s issues"

What Ott says makes sense, but at what point do we say, “hey, this guy has been around and just isn’t getting it.” At 29 years old and with four seasons (two full) under his belt, shouldn’t Garbutt be further along in his maturity and discipline?

Ryan Garbutt is still showing immaturity. Enough immaturity, in fact, that Lindy Ruff contacted Garbutt’s dad in effort to straighten out the maverick winger. Too Many Men on the Site Editor Patrick Helper wrote about this, speculating that Lindy Ruff may be getting desperate. If that is the case, then something drastic may need to be done, in the best interest for both sides. 

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Ryan Garbutt is a very good player with 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 total points in 26 games this season and he is very quick. That is why I think that Ryan Garbutt needs to be traded as soon as possible, for both the good of the Stars and Garbutt himself.

There is a history of troubled players getting traded and finding new life on a new team. The Boston Bruins thought Tyler Seguin was a trouble player (and he was), so they traded him to the Dallas Stars. Ryan Garbutt needs to be traded so that it can shake his world and straighten him out.

I don’t think, at his age, anything the Stars can do will cause Ryan Garbutt to get his act together. It’s time for the Stars to get as much as they can for him and give Curtis McKenzie a chance.

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