Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under my organization, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
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Name: Tom Kuhnhackl
Number: 34
Position: Right wing
Born: January 21, 1992, in Landshut, Germany
Seasons with Penguins: 2016-18
Statistics with Penguins: 168 games, 11 goals, 28 assists in regular season; 47 games, three goals, four assists in playoffs.
WHY KUHNHACKL?
He's no superstar like his father, Erich, but he's the best to ever wear No. 34 for the Penguins.
The German was drafted by the Penguins in the fourth round of the 2010 draft and made his North American professional debut in 2012 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Once a scoring winger in juniors, he reinvented his game and took on a bottom-6 role as he worked his way up from Wheeling to Pittsburgh.
Kuhnhackl was recalled to Pittsburgh on Jan. 7, 2016, and has been in the NHL ever since.
He was a valuable addition to the Penguins' penalty kill, was reliable defensively, and one of the team's best shot-blockers during the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup runs.
Kuhnhackl became the third German player to win the Stanley Cup (after Uwe Krupp and Dennis Seidenberg), and is one of only two German players to win multiple Stanley Cups (the other being Krupp). He was the first player to ever bring the Stanley Cup home to Germany.
Kuhnhackl saw some international success as well during his tenure with the Penguins. His game-winning goal against Latvia in the qualifying tournament for the 2018 Winter Olympics clinched the German men's national team’s first spot in the Olympics since 2010.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
Kuhnhackl, 26, rejected a two-year deal with the Penguins this summer and did not receive a qualifying offer, thus becoming an unrestricted free agent. Two days into free agency, he signed a one-year deal with the New York Islanders worth $700,000.
IT WAS SPOKEN
“It’s a dream come true for me. But at the same time, I’m a little nervous. I’ve heard Montreal is a crazy place to play your first NHL game. I’m going to call my dad and ask for advice on how to not be nervous.” -- Kuhnhackl prior to his NHL debut
"I knew from the first moment after winning it that I would bring the Stanley Cup to Landshut, where I had my first steps on the ice. I come from here and this is my home, so it was my intention to share it with the fans and the people here." -- Kuhnhackl on bringing the Stanley Cup to Germany in 2016
"I'm sure we will find a lot of things at home that we can pour into the cup to drink out of it. But one thing you should absolutely avoid [is] don't take the cup into water, a swimming pool for example. If you do that the cup fills up with water and will be wrecked." -- Kuhnhackl, on his game plan for celebrating with the Stanley Cup in 2017
HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 34
Andre St. Laurent
Bobby Farnham
Scott Young
ANY DEBATE?
Not really. It was a very underwhelming group. Kuhnhackl is no All-Star, but he wore the number longer than any other player (St. Laurent is the only other player to wear it for more than one season) and wore it through two Stanley Cup runs.
A few former No. 34s went on to have front office careers. Young is now the director of player development for the Penguins. Ted Nolan was coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Garth Snow was general manager of the New York Islanders. Jeff Christian was head coach of the Wheeling Nailers.
Tomorrow: I have No. 35.
Yesterday: Zarley Zalapski
