Yohe: Ranking the top 20 Penguins in franchise history

April 27, 2024

To say that Penguins fans have been spoiled is a profound understatement. Since Mario Lemieux arrived in Pittsburgh in 1984, the Penguins have showcased the NHL’s most star-studded franchise almost annually.

There have been future Hall of Famers, franchise icons and enough star power to give the Penguins five championship and counting since 1991. But who are the greatest Penguins of all?

Here are the rules:

• I’m not creating the ultimate Penguins’ roster but rather am simply ranking the 20 greatest players in franchise history. So don’t expect 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. This is a franchise so rich in forward talent that these players will lead the way on this list.

• Players eligible had to play at least parts of two seasons with the Penguins. So, sorry, Luc Robitaille, Marian Hossa and Sergei Zubov.

• This is designed to highlight the level players performed at while with the Penguins. Bryan Trottier is an all-time great but was well past his prime with the Penguins.

• The postseason matters. When I needed a tiebreaker, I considered not so much Stanley Cup rings but Stanley Cup playoff performance.

• I didn’t use any magic formula. I’ve been covering the Penguins for more than a decade, watching them for 35 years and consider myself something of a franchise historian. This is my opinion, nothing more.

Honorable mentions

Rick Tocchet — Check out the names on the honorable mentions list. We’ll start with Tocchet. He had 179 points in 150 games in Pittsburgh, scored a game-winning goal with a broken jaw, played an instrumental role in the 1992 Stanley Cup run and scored 48 goals in the 1992-93 season. What a player. Too bad he didn’t play in Pittsburgh longer, or he’d be on the list. Had the list been the top 21 players in Penguins history, he’d be on it.

Ulf Samuelsson — There have been a lot of cult heroes in Penguins history, guys like Darius Kasparaitis, Matthew Barnaby and so many others. But there was only one Ulf. He was a terrific defensive player, was dirty, mean, and physical beyond comprehension. And Pittsburgh loved him.

Brian Dumoulin — Don’t sleep on this guy. In five years, he may be regarded as the best defensive defenseman in franchise history.

Joey Mullen — Rough keeping a Hall of Famer off of this team. Mullen was great with the Penguins, scoring 153 goals over six seasons. He was a wonderful player and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but I would suggest his numbers were aided somewhat by his teammates and the era in which he played. Not saying he wasn’t terrific, because he was. But this is a tough team to crack.

Pierre Larouche — Pierre was a great player and made the Penguins relevant in their early years. He scored 119 goals in 240 games with the Penguins in the 1970s while also pulling off many “Dates with Pierre.” (The team held a promotion where a lucky fan would actually get to go on a date with Pierre. No, I’m not making this up. And yes, he is the world’s coolest man.)

Martin Straka — What a good player. Wasn’t great anywhere else, but when he played in Pittsburgh, he always produced. So fast. Multiple overtime playoff goals. Could play the point on the power play and any forward position. He was a good one.

Petr Nedved — He only played in two seasons with the Penguins, but those seasons are worth mentioning. He produced 88 goals and 170 points in those two seasons. Nedved also scored 11 playoff goals in 23 games. Great player.

James Neal — He was asked to score goals, and that’s exactly what he did. Neal scored 89 goals and put up 184 points in 199 games with the Penguins.

Patric Hornqvist — The guy Neal was traded for hasn’t been so bad, either. Hornqvist scored a Cup-winning goal, has enjoyed other postseason overtime heroics and has registered 132 goals in 407 games with the Penguins. He’s one of the best postseason performers in franchise history.

Sergei Gonchar — I hated keeping him off the list, though the very best seasons of his career did come in Washington. A great player who should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Brooks Orpik — Orpik had a long, proud run with the Penguins. Players of his style are becoming extinct in the NHL, but he pulled it off. His four-knockdown shift against the Red Wings in Game 3 of the 2008 final remains among the most iconic in franchise history.

Randy Carlyle — He did win a Norris Trophy, the only time a member of the Penguins has ever done that. Really good player on some really bad teams.

Alex Kovalev — It wasn’t easy keeping him off the list. If it were a most talented Penguins list, he’d be in the top five. Easily. He was that skilled and was also supremely productive in Pittsburgh.

The Top 20

20. Matt Murray

Games 199; Record: 117-53-19; GAA 2.67; Save percentage .914

If you’ve won two Stanley Cups as a goaltender, you make this list. Murray hasn’t been around all that long, but his mark on this franchise is indelible. While he hasn’t been great the past two seasons, let’s just look at the facts. He won his first seven playoffs series in which he played. He won the Cup in each of his first two seasons. He pitched consecutive shutouts to end the Predators in the 2017 Cup final. He won two Cups on the road as a young goalie. And he’s won 59 percent of his career starts.

19. Chris Kunitz

Games 569; Goals 169; Assists 219; Points 388; PPG 0.68

He simply belongs because of all that he accomplished. He isn’t one of the 20 most talented Penguins of all time, but he is one of the best 20 Penguins of all time. He won the Cup three times. He scored what I believe is the most important goal in franchise history in the double overtime, Game 7 thriller against Ottawa. Kunitz was a dependable linemate for the Penguins’ stars. More than anything, he was just a winner. That’s a cliche in the world of sports, but he really was. He beat Ottawa. He forced the turnover in Nashville that led to Patric Hornqvist’s Cup-winner. He made a spectacular pass to set up Max Talbot’s Cup-winner in Detroit. You notice a pattern here? He wasn’t all that talented. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t great.

18. Jordan Staal

Games 431; Goals 120; Assists 128; Points 248; PPG 0.58

The numbers are solid, not spectacular. But to watch Staal play was to appreciate him. The Penguins had star power when he arrived in 2006. They didn’t have a two-way force, someone who could shut down the opposition’s best player while providing his share of offense. Staal very much gave the Penguins that player, and he did so immediately. He was 17 when his first NHL training camp started and he made the team three weeks later. And scored 29 goals as a rookie teenager. And became one of the league’s best defensive forwards at 18. In the playoffs, few were better. The Penguins don’t win the Cup in 2009 without him. It’s a shame Staal left in 2012. He wanted to play with his brother and can’t be blamed for that, but one wonders what the Penguins would have accomplished had they retained the three-headed monster for another decade.

17. Larry Murphy

Games 336; Goals 78; Assists 223; Points 301; PPG 0.90

Murphy played on a lot of great teams, which didn’t hurt his cause. But he was also one of the great defensemen in Penguins’ history. His offensive ability made Paul Coffey expendable for God’s sake. And while he wasn’t known for his defensive work, he was a plus-101 in 336 games with the Penguins, so he was doing something right. Murphy could do it all.

16. Jake Guentzel

Games 243; Goals 98; Assists 102; Points 200; PPG 0.82

Does this seem too high? I disagree, and here’s why. The man is only 25 and he’s already a playoff icon. He could have been given the Conn Smythe Trophy as a rookie and absolutely no one would have been shocked. That’s how important he was in 2017, when he scored 13 goals that postseason. In 41 postseason games, he’s scored 24 goals. That’s a 48-goal pace over the course of a season during a time when it’s very difficult to score. He’s an incredible player.

15. Syl Apps

Games 495; Goals 151; Assists 349; Points 500; PPG 1.01

If you know your Penguins history, you know that Apps is a giant in franchise history. The numbers speak for themselves. While we generally think of the Penguins as being nothing but a laughingstock until Mario Lemieux arrived in 1984, they actually had some good teams in the 1970s. Apps, a master playmaker, played a big role in this.

14. Jean Pronovost

Games 753; Goals 316; Assists 287; Points 603; PPG 0.80

Much like Apps, Pronovost’s contributions to the early years of the Penguins shouldn’t be forgotten. He was one of the best snipers in franchise history. He scored more than 20 goals in nine straight seasons. He topped the 40-goal mark four times and once scored 53 goals in a season. Admittedly, Apps and Pronovost were before my time, but there’s no doubt that they deserve to be on this list.

13. Rick Kehoe

Games 722; Goals 312; Assists 324; Points 636; PPG 0.88

Remember something about Kehoe: Most of the Penguins teams he played on weren’t all that good. Some of them were actually really horrible. He scored 29 or more goals in a season eight times. That’s really impressive. A really good player for a long time and played through some dark times in franchise history.

12. Phil Kessel

Games 328; Goals 110; Assists 193; Points 303; PPG 0.92

Kessel was only a member of the Penguins for four years, but he got the job done in a big way. The level of his consistency in the 2016 and 2017 postseasons was remarkable. He’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion, he never missed a game, and he ran the power play better than anybody since the team’s owner. The Penguins don’t win those Cups without Kessel.

11. Mark Recchi

Games 389; Goals 154; Assists 231; Points 385; PPG 0.99

It’s tempting to put him higher on this list because of his performance in the 1991 postseason. He put up 34 points in 24 games that spring, having never played in the postseason. Recchi scored the goal that sent the Penguins to the Stanley Cup final, against the Bruins in Game 6 of the Wales Conference Final. He was always clutch and always produced huge numbers.

10. Tom Barrasso

Games 460; Record 226-153-53; GAA 3.27; Save percentage .895

Gauging his career in Pittsburgh is tough. The media that covered him hates him so much that it typically doesn’t give him proper credit. Others, in a backlash to that, make him out to be Patrick Roy. The truth was probably somewhere in the middle. But make no mistake, Barrasso was great. He won two championships, was an awesome physical talent and maybe the best puck-handling goaltender in history. Don’t be unimpressed by his numbers. It was a different time.

9. Paul Coffey

Games 331; Goals 108; Assists 332; Points 440; PPG 1.33

Coffey’s points per game with the Penguins is absurd. Offensively, he was that great. The most important trade in franchise history is the one that brought Coffey to Pittsburgh because that let the city know that the Penguins were finally serious about winning. So, why isn’t he ahead of the next player on this list? Coffey played for parts of only five seasons in Pittsburgh and was not good defensively. This can’t be ignored. He was a minus-50 in his time with the Penguins. But I’m not knocking him. Other than Lemieux, he’s probably the most entertaining player in franchise history and an all-time great.

8. Kris Letang

Games 808; Goals 127; Assists 410; Points 537; PPG 0.66

Always a tough player to rank because his errors can be so incredibly confounding. For my money, however, this is the greatest defenseman in Penguins’ history. For one thing, when Letang is locked in, his defensive work is far better than it receives credit for. He’s a great one-on-one defender and one of the greatest — and strongest — skaters in franchise history. His offensive numbers aren’t Coffey level but are outstanding, and he’s overcome major health issues. His performance in Game 6 in San Jose during the 2016 Stanley Cup final is one of the best in franchise history.

7. Marc-Andre Fleury

Games 691; Record 375-216-68; GAA 2.58; Save percentage .912

Sometimes, the numbers speak for themselves. That’s a lot of wins. His name is on the Stanley Cup three times. He made the greatest save in franchise history to preserve the Cup in Detroit in 2009. The Penguins don’t win the Cup in 2017 without his heroics against Columbus and Washington. No, he wasn’t perfect. He had his meltdowns. But I still think he’s the greatest goaltender in franchise history.

6. Ron Francis

Games 533; Goals 164; Assists 449; Points 613; PPG 1.15

Let be it said that the Penguins never won anything until Francis showed up on March 4, 1991. He’s one of the great players of all time and one of the most respected leaders in the history of the sport, let alone the franchise. Look at the numbers he put up. Now, consider that his biggest contribution was bringing a defensive mindset to a team that badly needed one.

5. Kevin Stevens

Games 522; Goals 260; Assists 295; Points 555; PPG 1.06

The most underrated player in franchise history is Kevin Stevens. With all due respect to the galaxy of stars on those early 90s teams, other than Lemieux, no one was more dominant on the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup teams than Stevens. His 17 postseason goals in 1991 remain a Penguins record. He scored 46 goals in 103 postseason games. He made the most important guarantee in team history. And he backed it all up. Stevens’ prime was short and it was largely because of his own off-ice behavior. But for about four years, he was the best power forward in hockey and played at a Hall of Fame level. The bigger the game, the bigger he played. He was the soul of those early 90s teams.

4. Evgeni Malkin

Games 907; Goals 415; Assists 660; Points 1,075: PPG 1.19

Around the hockey world, Malkin’s accomplishments largely go overlooked. They most certainly do not in Pittsburgh. Malkin hasn’t been quite as great as Sidney Crosby during his career, but frankly, he hasn’t been that far behind. Malkin is more physically gifted than Crosby and possesses the rare ability to take over games, something that’s only been surpassed by Lemieux in Penguins’ history. An all-time great.

3. Jaromir Jagr

Games 806; Goals 439; Assists 640; Points 1,079; PPG 1.34

Five scoring titles. Playoff greatness. Jagr was the best player in the world for a few years during his career in Pittsburgh and he actually produced more points per game than Crosby during his Penguins career. His greatness should not be overlooked.

2. Sidney Crosby

Games 984; Goals 462; Assists 801; Points 1,263; PPG 1.28

Crosby has lived up to the hype and then some. On and off the ice, he’s been an all-time great. Crosby is probably among the top five players in NHL history, trailing only Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr in the minds of most. He’s arguably been the best player on the planet for the past 14 years. Think about that. He’s been truly great and should have some dominant years remaining.

Mario Lemieux (Getty Images Studios / Getty Images)

1. Mario Lemieux

Games 915; Goals 690; Assists 1033; Points 1723; PPG 1.88

Crosby’s legacy and on-ice work has moved closer to Lemieux territory than anyone could have imagined. But still, he’s not all that close. Not yet. Lemieux was one-of-a-kind and the easy choice to be No. 1 on this list. I rank him as the greatest hockey player who ever lived and I’m not sure that any athlete is more synonymous with a franchise than Lemieux is with the Penguins.

(Top photo of Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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