Top 50 Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins were part of the first wave of NHL expansion in 1967, and while they are now considered one of the premier franchises in hockey, this was not always the case.
For the first twenty years, they enjoyed little success both on the ice and in the box office. They were on the brink of relocation until they drafted Mario Lemieux, who would become one of the most exciting players in hockey history. Along with Jaromir Jagr, the Penguins would become one of the most talented teams in the game, and they would win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.
Lemieux would save the team again, this time from bankruptcy, and he would become the owner (and player) for the Penguins. With Sidney Crosby arriving, the franchise won the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
With five Stanley Cups, the Penguins have won more titles than any other expansion team.
This list is up to the end of the 2023/24 season.
Note: Hockey lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
The city of Pittsburgh should erect as many statues as possible of Mario Lemieux. If it wasn’t for him, there is a good chance that Pittsburgh Penguins would not exist today. The Penguins did not draw well, and they were more often than not on the losing end, but everything…
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery to draft Sidney Crosby, who lived up to all of the enormous expectations that were placed upon him, and it took him no time to do it. As a rookie, Crosby scored 102 Points and missed out on the Calder to Alex Ovechkin of…
The Pittsburgh Penguins chose Evgeni Malkin with the second overall pick in 2004, but due to a transfer dispute between the NHL and the IIHF, Malkin could not report until the 2006/07 season. The Russian star was worth the wait!
Placing Jaromir Jagr only at number three seems so strange considering all that he accomplished there, but don’t think of this as a slight on Jagr. We ask you to view it as a testament to what Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby accomplished over their careers, and Jagr was only…
Kris Letang has to date spent his entire professional hockey career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the organization has to be thrilled with the return on their 2005 Third Round Pick.
Marc-Andre Fleury was the First Overall Draft Pick of 2003 would actually start in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins that year as an 18-year old, making him the youngest ever to start in between the pipes. He would get better annually and would be the starting Goalie in the Pens…
When Ron Francis retired, he was second all-time in Assists with 1,249. It needs to be mentioned that, 449 of them came as a Pittsburgh Penguin.
Let's get this out of the way before we discuss more of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the pre-Mario Lemieux era is simply to state that they were not very good. They would annually struggle to make the post-season, and they did not elicit excitement among hockey fans anywhere in the…
Tom Barrasso may not have been the most natural person to like, but make no mistake that this is a Goaltender who is Hall of Fame worthy, a lot of which was due to what he accomplished in Pittsburgh.
Paul Coffey will always be known for what he did in Edmonton, but if you were to come up with a second team for Coffey (he actually played for nine NHL teams) it should be the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kevin Stevens played the first half of his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it was in the Steel City where he easily had his best success.
Rick Kehoe was one of the few bright spots in some awful Pittsburgh Penguins teams of the late 70s and early 80s.
Ron Stackhouse played four and a half years in the NHL (with the California Golden Seals and Detroit Red Wings) before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1973-74 Season. It was in Western Pennsylvania where he really found his groove.
You don’t think of Omaha, Nebraska as a hockey hotbed, but it was in Cornhusker territory where Jake Guentzel came from. The Nebraskan stayed in state, competing collegiately for the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and while this was not a hockey powerhouse, Guentzel impressed in college, bringing the school to their…
Mark Recchi began his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where the fourth round pick immediately exceed expectations. The Right Wing would have 67 Points in his first full season with the Pens (1989-90) and would break-out with a 113 Point campaign and helped Pittsburgh win their first Stanley Cup. The…
Larry Murphy played for six teams in his career in the National Hockey League, and it was with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he had his biggest batch of success.
Chris Kunitz was traded from the Anaheim Ducks late in 2008-09 season with the hope that he would provide potency to the Penguins' second line ahead of their playoff run. That is precisely what he would do.
Prior to his arrival to Pittsburgh, Sergei Gonchar had been chosen for two Second Team All-Stars as a member of the Washington Capitals. He may not have done that with Pittsburgh, but there is no doubt that he made his presence felt in Western Pennsylvania.
When most people think of Randy Carlyle these days, they likely think of his coaching, which included helping the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to a Stanley Cup in 2006. What many people forget is that he was one solid hockey player who once won the Norris Trophy, an award he…
Alex Kovalev played 365 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he would first arrive when he was traded from the New York Rangers in November of 1998. The Russian Right Winger would score 95 Points in 2000-01, which would be a career-high. Kovalev followed that with a 76 Point campaign and…