Ex-Penguins Update: Final 2022-23

With the NHL regular season at an end and the Stanley Cup Playoffs about to commence, I thought I’d take a break from the heavy stuff and post my final Ex-Pens Update.

In years past I’ve glanced at the list and thought…meh. But this season is different. As I was compiling the numbers, I was struck by how many Ex-Pens enjoyed really solid seasons. Lots of guys in the 10-20 goal range. I couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful…some of them might have really helped our cause had we kept them.

In keeping with a recent comment made by long-time PP supporter, Jorenz, about our roster being deconstructed under Ron Hextall, I once again thought I’d focus my narrative on the players who’ve left the ‘Burgh since Hexy took over as GM.

With a staggering 40 goals and 70 points, Jared McCann enjoyed a monster season for the Kraken. The decision to protect Jeff Carter over McCann ahead of the ’21 Expansion Draft and Jared’s subsequent trade to Toronto for Filip Hallander may qualify as the worst in franchise history this side of the infamous Markus Naslund–Alek Stojanov swap.

Evan Rodrigues tallied 16 goals and 39 points for the Avalanche for the bargain rate of $2 million. Frederick Gaudreau popped 19 goals and 38 points for Bill Guerin’s Wild. A steal at $1.2 million.

The Kraken’s Brandon Tanev had 16 goals and 35 points to go with a plus-21, tied for tops among Pens alum with Devils d-man John Marino.

Reborn in St. Louis, Kasperi Kapanen finished with 15 goals…eight in 23 games with the Blues.

Fleet defenseman Mike Matheson (pictured above) emerged as a star and a leader in Montreal while racking up eight goals and 34 points in only 48 games. That’s a 58-point pace over a full 82-game slate! Ugh. In hindsight, another disastrous trade by Hextall.

Rounding out the list, Sam Lafferty (27 points) resurrected his career with the Blackhawks before joining another former Pen, Zach Aston-Reese on the fourth line in Toronto. In addition to his superb defensive work, ZAR rediscovered his scoring touch to the tune of 10 goals. Cody Ceci turned in a solid, no-frills season for the Oilers.

As the old saying goes, read ’em and weep.

SCORING
Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-
Jared McCann	SEA	C	79	40	30	70	14	18
David Perron	DET	LW	82	24	32	56	52	-7
Daniel Sprong	SEA	RW	66	21	25	46	14	13
Evan Rodrigues	COL	C	69	16	23	39	30	7
Frederick Gaudreau	MIN	C	82	19	19	38	10	10
Conor Sheary	WSH	LW	82	15	22	37	22	9
Phil Kessel	VEG	RW	82	14	22	36	30	-7
Stefan Noesen	CAR	RW	78	13	23	36	32	11
Brandon Tanev	SEA	LW	82	16	19	35	44	21
Jordan Staal	CAR	C	81	17	17	34	32	7
Kasperi Kapanen	PIT-STL	RW	66	15	19	34	18	-8
Mike Matheson	MTL	D	48	8	26	34	33	7
Justin Schultz	SEA	D	73	7	27	34	40	4
Nick Bjugstad	ARI-EDM	C	78	17	12	29	34	13
* Calen Addison	MIN	D	62	3	26	29	22	-17
Oskar Sundqvist	DET-MIN	C	67	10	18	28	28	4
Sam Lafferty	CHI-TOR	LW/C	70	12	15	27	37	-11
Jamie Oleksiak	SEA	D	75	9	16	25	62	13
Derick Brassard	OTT	C	62	13	10	23	30	3
Olli Maatta	DET	D	78	6	17	23	14	-9
Brock McGinn	PIT-ANA	LW	75	12	7	19	21	-6
Derek Grant	ANA	C	46	5	13	18	26	-4
John Marino	NJD	D	64	4	14	18	20	21
Ian Cole	TBL	D	78	3	14	17	61	13
Teddy Blueger	PIT-VEG	C	63	4	12	16	30	-9
Ryan Reaves	NYR-MIN	RW	73	5	10	15	43	-6
Cody Ceci	EDM	D	80	1	14	15	24	11
Zach Aston-Reese	TOR	RW	77	10	4	14	25	-6
Erik Gudbranson	CBJ	D	70	1	12	13	57	-24
Mark Jankowski	NSH	C	50	7	5	12	18	-1
Scott Harrington	SJS-ANA	D	45	4	7	11	10	-6
Jack Johnson	CHI-COL	D	83	2	6	8	28	-15
Jayson Megna	COL-ANA	C	55	2	6	8	4	-21
Alex Goligoski	MIN	D	46	2	4	6	16	-9
Robert Bortuzzo	STL	D	43	2	3	5	29	9
Tanner Pearson	VAN	LW	14	1	4	5	21	-9
Andrew Agozzino	SJS	LW	4	1	2	3	0	-1
Patric Hornqvist	FLA	RW	22	1	2	3	13	-4
Derrick Pouliot	SJS	D	8	0	2	2	6	-1
Radim Zohorna	CGY-TOR	LW	10	1	0	1	0	-1
Marc-Andre Fleury	MIN	G	46	0	1	1	2	0
* Filip Gustavsson	MIN	G	39	0	1	1	0	0
* Jake Muzzin	TOR	D	4	0	1	1	2	0
Jean-Sebastien Dea	ARI	C	4	0	0	0	0	-2
Alex Galchenyuk	COL	C	11	0	0	0	4	-8
Thomas Greiss	STL	G	21	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Murray	TOR	G	26	0	0	0	0	0
Riley Sheahan	BUF	C	2	0	0	0	4	-2
GOALTENDING
Player	Team	GP	GA	SH	GAA	SV%	QS%	W-L-OT
* Filip Gustavsson	MIN	39	81	3	2.10	.931	.730	22-9-7
Marc-Andre Fleury	MIN	46	126	2	2.85	.908	.578	24-16-4
Matt Murray	TOR	26	74	1	3.01	.903	.500	14-8-2
Thomas Greiss	STL	21	65	1	3.58	.896	.375	7-10-0
Italics-Draft pick or free agent who began his NHL career with the Penguins
Asterisk-Draft pick who didn’t appear in a regular season or postseason game with the Penguins