The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ organizational history has a plethora of great players, and we’ve decided to go through the best Penguins’ players to wear each jersey number. Today, we continue the list by naming the best #82 in Penguins’ history.
Only one player in franchise history has worn #82, and he scored some big-time goals for the Penguins during the late-1990s and early-2000s.
The best and only #82 in Penguins history is Martin Straka.
Straka, a center, was drafted 19th overall by Pittsburgh in the 1992 NHL Draft. He played his first three NHL seasons with the Penguins – including a sophomore season with 30 goals and 64 points in 1993-94 – before being traded to the Ottawa Senators after a disappointing 1994-95 season with Pittsburgh.
He played for the Senators, New York Islanders, and Florida Panthers before returning to the Penguins in 1997-98 on a free agent contract. And, from there, his NHL career found new life.
Over the next seven seasons with Pittsburgh, Straka registered 128 goals and 346 points in 403 games – including 19 game-winning goals in the regular season. He was widely regarded as a clutch player and knew how to come up big in big moments.
But he scored some huge goals in the playoffs as well – including two overtime goals during the 2001 playoffs. And one of those was, arguably, one of the most memorable in franchise history – and that was the Game 6 series-clinching goal against the Washington Capitals to send the Penguins to the second round:
Straka was traded to the Los Angeles Kings during the 2003-04 season, and he went on to play three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers after the 2004-05 lockout. Over the course of his NHL career, Straka recorded 257 goals and 717 points in 954 games.
