What has 53 meant for the Penguins? Historically, not much.
One through 59, there is only one number that a Penguins player has never worn: You guessed it, No. 53.
Dennis Owchar and Colin Campbell were both born in '53.
Also, 53 was the number of goals Pierre Larouche scored in 1975-76.
What will 53 mean for the Penguins? Well, we should learn a little more about that on the afternoon of Saturday, June 23 at the NHL Draft in Dallas.
When the Penguins make their first pick it won't be until the second round, 53rd overall (again, that's not a bad thing for this team). It'll be the first time in franchise history that the Penguins have held pick No. 53. They've selected 52nd overall five times and 54th three times.
Unlike No. 56 -- (Keith) Gretzky or (Mitch) Messier? (Blake) Geoffrion or (Ron) Lalonde? -- there is little debate as to who the greatest 53rd overall pick was. Actually, there's no debate at all.
It's Nicklas Lidstrom. End of story.
In '89, the Red Wings selected the Swedish defenseman with the 53rd pick back when it was still in the third round. (Detroit GM Jimmy Devellano selected Sergei Fedorov in the fourth round, but that's another story.)
After Lidstrom ,though, there's just not much there there at 53. Since 1969, there have been 49 players chosen 53rd overall and, of that, only a dozen played more than 100 games in the NHL.
Among defensemen, Lidstrom is fifth all-time in points (1,142), sixth in assists (878) and eighth in goals (264). But among guys who got picked 53rd overall, Lidstrom is No. 1 in all three categories by a wide margin. I mean, Lidstrom scored just 354 fewer points than all -- ALL! -- players selected 53rd. That's pretty impressive.
The second-best No. 53, probably, would have to be Gary McAdam (Sabres, 1975), a left wing who scored 96 goals in 534 games, 140 of them in the navy and light blue and then black and gold of the Penguins from 1978-81.
After McAdam, it's Mike Dunham (Devils, 1990), David Booth (Panthers, 2004) and Travis Hamonic (Islanders, 2008), though William Karlsson (Anaheim, 2011) is clearly making his way up the chart.
See what I'm saying? The NHL Draft is a crapshoot.
Who the Penguins might take 53rd overall is anyone's guess. But if they get a player half as good -- OK, a quarter as good -- as Lidstrom, they will have done well for themselves.
• Ilya Kovalchuk is reportedly visiting Los Angeles and San Jose as the Russian is plotting his return to the NHL after spending the past five years in the KHL.
If the NHL has any backbone (it doesn't), it would tell Kovalchuk to stay in the Motherland or he has to rejoin the Devils, or any team that signs him owes the Devils compensation.
You'll recall that Kovalchuk bolted New Jersey while in the middle of a 15-year, $101 million contract that was supposed to run though 2024-25. Because he left in the middle of a long-term contract, the Devils had retained his rights until April 15 of this year, when he was removed from the NHL's voluntary retirement list and became an unrestricted free agent. Why April 15? It wasn't just tax day, it was also his 35th birthday. Conveniently, he wants back in now.
It shouldn't work that way.
Sure, the Devils will be glad to not pay Kovalchuk until he's 42, but they also didn't qualify for the postseason until this year.
• The Washington Capitals are not the first team to be a drunken mess while celebrating a Stanley Cup victory and, rest assured, they will not be the last. But in this era of social media where everyone has a camera, they are clearly the most public. Twenty-five-year-old me thinks it's awesome. Forty-five-year-old me says mix a water in there, boys. I'd say act like you've done it before but, well, you know ...
• A lot of talk about Alex Ovechkin's legacy after Thursday night and understandably so. He's clearly an all-time great who improved his stock, but one Cup ring doesn't put you on Mount Rushmore, either. Top 15-20? I'll go there.
• Really cool to hear how much of an impact Brooks Orpik's understated leadership had on the Capitals. It was very telling that it was the veteran defenseman who got to hoist the Cup after only Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, who've been together in Washington for 11 years. Jakub Vrana, a 22-year-old Czech, even donned an Orpik throwback jersey -- Washington, not Pittsburgh -- to one of the Capitals' epic after-parties on the Strip.
• Las Vegas' loss in five games in the Cup Final doesn't diminish what the Golden Knights accomplished one bit. The interesting part is what happens next. George McPhee has nearly $31 million in cap space. Maybe the Knights finally get that deal done for Erik Karlsson, but it's hard to see how they improve upon this season.
• It's always been a long shot that John Tavares would leave the Islanders, the team that drafted him first overall in '09. But with Lou Lamoriello coming on board, the chances of Tavares playing anywhere else but New York went from slim to none.
• Friday marks the beginning of the NHL's buyout period. While some fans would love to see the Penguins part ways with Matt Hunwick, that's not going to happen -- at least not Friday. Let's see what happens July 1.
• Now that Ovechkin has his Cup after 13 years in the league, who is the next veteran player who most deserves to get his name engraved in silver? Alphabetically, here's my list: Jay Bouwmeester (1,106 games), Claude Giroux (738), Mikko Koivu (925), Roberto Luongo (1,001), Henrik Lundqvist (805), Patrick Marleau (1,495) and Joe Thornton (1,575). Of that group, who wins first? Marleau. The 38-year-old's wagon is hitched to the Maple Leafs, who are in the best position to win sooner rather than later.
• Finally, in other cool news, the Penguins announced Monday that they have donated over $1.1 million to local charities from funds collected during the 50/50 raffle during home games this season. Despite what I thought were pretty good odds in my favor (I was at, like, 35-plus games!), I didn't win a single one of them. Just glad to help out.