Stick taps to Chris Kunitz, who recently retired after raising four Stanley Cups, and scoring the ninth-most goals (169) and 14th-most points (388) in Penguins history.
Sidney Crosby arguably never had a winger who complemented Sid’s hard-charging, improvisational style better. Crosby assisted on 83 of Kunitz’s career goals, more than double the helpers that Sid has delivered for another winger. Here’s another indication of how well these guys meshed: From 2011-12 through 2013-14 (Kunitz’s peak scoring seasons), the Penguins generated 54.9 percent of total shots, 58.5 percent of scoring chances and a whopping 69.7 percent of goals scored when Kunitz and Crosby skated together at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick. Without Kunitz, Crosby’s even-strength goals for rate fell to 49.2 percent during that stretch of seasons.
Despite going undrafted and once toiling in second-tier junior leagues, Kunitz managed to rank 309th all-time points scored (619). His performance and longevity really stand out among undrafted players. He has the most career points scored among all players who went undrafted during the new millennium (Andy McDonald is a distant second at 489), and the most for any undrafted player since Martin St. Louis (1,033). Congrats to Crosby‘s main wing man on a successful 15-year career.
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• Shutting it down: Cap space permitting, the Penguins are likely hoping to lock up defenseman Marcus Pettersson long term. Although Pettersson, 23, isn’t bereft of offensive talent (he averaged 0.33 points per game with Pittsburgh), he generates more value on the goal-prevention side of the equation. A lanky 6-foot-3, Pettersson used his long reach and sound skating to post some of the best numbers among Penguins defensemen. With Pettersson skating, the Penguins allowed just 29.9 shots per 60 minutes of five-on-five play (tops among defensemen on the team), 24.6 scoring chances against (second, behind Brian Dumoulin at 24.5) and 1.8 goals allowed (first). With Pittsburgh lacking top defensive prospects aside from Calen Addison and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, picking up Pettersson last season looks like a coup.
