Second in a series.
The Penguins have plucked some valuable contributors out of the third round of the draft, including several who played prominent roles in their most recent championships.
Barring a trade, the third-rounder they will claim Wednesday -- the Penguins currently hold the 77th overall choice -- will be their highest in this year's draft, so getting a prospect who will develop into an asset over the next few years figures to be particularly important.
What follows are performance-based, but subjective, rankings of all of their third-rounders who played at least one game in the NHL.
D Kris Letang (2005). Although his game can be maddeningly inconsistent at times, Letang merits a prominent place in any conversation about the best defensemen in franchise history.
LW Jake Guentzel (2013). He has the potential to make a serious run at being a 50-goal scorer.
G Matt Murray (2012). Murray's up-and-down performances during the past couple of seasons can't be ignored, but neither can the fact that he helped the Penguins win a pair of Stanley Cups during his first two seasons in the league.
RW Bryan Rust (2010). His solid two-way game is complemented by a reputation of elevating his performance in high-stakes settings.
LW Troy Loney (1982). A hard-working, honest blue-collar winger who was a valuable member of the supporting cast during the Penguins' Cup runs in 1991 and 1992.
G Denis Herron (1972). He provided a lot of good goaltending for a lot of bad teams during a series of stints here.
C Michel Briere (1969). If not for the mortal injuries sustained in a traffic accident following his rookie season, he would have been the face of the franchise -- and a star -- for years.
LW Morris Lukowich (1976). Lukowich never played a game for the Penguins, but piled up 199 goals while competing for Winnipeg, Los Angeles and Boston and scored 132 more in three seasons in the World Hockey Association.
RW Nathan Legare (2019). Penguins traded up to get him, and seem confident he'll reach the NHL in a few years.
D Paul Baxter (1975). A rugged presence on the blue line, he had a five-year stint in the WHA before moving to the NHL, where he would accumulate 851 penalty-minutes in three seasons with the Penguins before moving on to Calgary.
D Clayton Phillips (2017). He has considerable promise while playing college hockey at Minnesota and Penn State.
D Robert Bortuzzo (2007). A physical, defensive defenseman who won a Stanley Cup after being traded to St. Louis.
D Josef Melichar (1997). Had the misfortune to come along just in time to be part of some bad Penguins squads in the early 2000s.
G Jean-Sebastien Aubin (1995). Provided generally solid goaltending, generally as a backup.
C Erik Christensen (2002). Good offensive skills, and particularly adept at penalty shots.
C Oskar Sundqvist (2012). A solid two-way who, like Bortuzzo, won a Cup after joining the Blues.
D Randy Boyd (1980). Never lived up to the great promise he appeared to have, although breaking into the league with some awful Penguins teams in the early 1980s didn't help.
RW Daniel Carcillo (2003). His was an effective agitator best-known here for winning a fight against Max Talbot during the 2009 playoffs, an incident that spurred the Penguins to a series-clinching victory in Philadelphia.
D Brian Strait (2006). A defensive defenseman who spent the majority of his career with the New York Islanders.
G Sebastien Caron (1999). A backup goalie who made all but five of his 195 NHL appearances with the Penguins.
LW Dave Roche (1993). Seemed to have the size and skill to be an impact player in the NHL, but managed only 15 goals in 171 career games.
D Joe Noris (1971). Found his game in the World Hockey Association after three forgettable seasons in the NHL.
RW Nick Johnson (2004). Squeezed 113 games into an NHL career spread over five seasons.
LW Joe Dziedzic (1990). An eye injury brought a premature end to a career that had genuine potential.
D Sven Butenschon (1994). A lanky defenseman who never became the shutdown force he was projected to be.
RW Jamie Leach (1987). Good bloodlines, bad production.
C Kim Davis (1977). Made it into more than 10 games once in his career.
D Tom Thornbury (1981). Couldn't earn a regular spot on the blue line of the 1983-84 Penguins, who won 16 of 80 games.
G Bruce Racine (1985). Never got into a game with the Penguins, but eventually played 11 for St. Louis.
D Bennett Wolf (1979). Played 30 utterly forgettable games in the early 1980s.
D Larry Bignell (1970). Spent most of his pro career with the Hershey Bears.
D Mike Rowe (1983). Got into 11 NHL games over a three-year period.
LW Brad Aitken (1986). Penguins believed his blend of size and skill would serve them well in hostile venues such as the Spectrum. They were wrong.
LW Boyd Kane (1996). No goals, three assists in 31 NHL games.
D Drew Fata (2001). Still best known for being Rico Fata's little brother.
RW Ben Hanowski (2009). Gaudy scoring stats he put up while playing for a small high school never translated to higher levels of play.
LW Daniel Gauthier (1988). None of his five NHL games were played for the Penguins.
RW Jonathan Filewich (2003). The Penguins had high hopes for Filewich when he was drafted. That didn't last.
LW Greg Crozier (1994). Did not accomplish much during his four minutes, 10 seconds of career playing time in the NHL.
Third-round draft choices who never played in the NHL, listed in no particular order:
C David Cameron (1998)
G Peter Hamerlik (2000)
C Casey Pierre-Zabotel (2007)
D Shane Peacock (1991)
D Connor Hall (2016)
C Brian Gifford (2004)
LW John Brill (1989)
D Travis Thiessen (1992)
D Alexandre Rouleau (2001)
RW Boris Protsenko (1996)
D Dave Simpson (1968)
Previously: Ranking the Penguins' fourth-round choices.
Next: Ranking the Penguins' second-round choices.
