I can hear Bob Uecker in Major League in my head right now saying “JUUUUUST a bit outside”. Yeah, completely missed the strike zone here, I can admit that. But, lets be honest, it’s an unfair prediction to make a final judgment on.
It’s not that Gudbranson wasn’t very good, as much as it is that he was playing about 4 minutes per game more than he should have been. After the team was decimated with injuries early on, he went from third pairing minutes against lower-tier opposition; to averaging 19 minutes per game against the best players on the other side each and every night.